How It Ends
by Bmcenroe132
Summary: A four hundred year old curse drives Hermione to take a new post across the pond in the hopes of distancing herself from the secrets she's been holding onto. The last person she thought she would ever see again just walked in the door. Maybe this wasn't free will after all. Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the rights to these characters.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the rights to these characters. I just like to think the ended up together!

_Once upon a time long ago, one witch and one wizard fell madly in love. The wizard though had not been meant for the young witch; he had been betrothed to another. When the wizard left his bride on what was to be their wedding day, he had broken her heart. She had vowed to never love again and had cursed the wizard and his witch, they would never know a life of happiness together, and they would be doomed to repeat their heartache until the day the one with the blood of the Horned Serpent set them free. _

_Time was a funny thing for us. You and I could never escape, one step from each other. Never truly together, yet always in fates embrace. -Wicked Words_

Sixth Year May 1st

With the rising of the sun Draco could feel the clarity that finally remembering the past afforded him. He was no longer the lost boy, but the man who had been searching for centuries for something that was just out of reach. The memory's from long ago past mixed with the his more recent ones told him, who he was searching for. It could only ever have been her, with the road that lay ahead of him he would once again have choose between her and the duty he was bound to uphold. Searching within in himself he could feel her, he could feel the sorrow, the bitterness and the loss of hope. He left his dormitory following the emotions that were not his own but hers.

She was sitting at usually table in the library where she could so often be found. Lost in her work, she didn't see him approach, which he was thankful for. He didn't know if she would hex him or run into his open arms, the way she always did when they awoke in a new life. The bleeding curse that wouldn't just leave them be, they had been doomed long ago to lifetime after lifetime of loosing each other until they could break the curse.

"Hermione," he said softly as he pulled the chair across from hers out and sat down. She didn't look up from what she was writing.

"Malfoy if you have come to mock me some more please save it, I️ am rather sick of being you're punch line."

"Hermione." he said her name again she stopped writing and looked up, but not with the usual happiness when they had finally awoken in their new life. The sadness he could feel in her emotions were mirrored in her eyes.

"Draco," she said softly

"How long this time," he asked knowing she would know what he meant.

"Almost a year," he sighed, he was always the last to awake to their memory's.

"This Time is different," he said, as he saw the unshed tears welling up in her eyes.

She wiped them away, "This time is meant to be the time we break the curse, I️ can feel it."

"But you aren't hoping for a happy ending," he said softly, she shook her head.

"The war is about to break out, and we are on different side, you have already been marked. You are a death eater and I am a muggle born." He didn't ask her how she could possibly know this, he already knew.

"We can run away," he said fear building in his chest. He was willing to turn his back on everything for her, his task be damned if it meant that he could keep her safe he would do it. He would do anything for her, which was why they had found themselves in this unfortunate situation. The look in her eyes though told him her mind was already made up, and he had known her long enough to know there would be no changing it.

"Draco," she smiled a broken smile, that made his heart stop. "We are always faced with the hard choice, and we also choose ourselves. I think that is the point. We will live this life over and over and over again, until we learn to be unselfish."

"I won't be able to protect you from what is about to come. You have yourself so entangled with Potter." His voice cracked, why couldn't she see that Potter was going to be the death of her.

"I know, I love you with every fiber of my body, but this time, the choice isn't easy is it?"

"They will hunt you down and kill you, they will kill everyone you love." He said

"They will kill everyone I love regardless."

"There is no changing your mind?" he asked hoping that there would be something he could say to persuade her to just leave with him. Leave this whole mess behind them.

"No," she said wiping the tears away. "I had hoped that you wouldn't wake up this time." He tried not to look hurt at this small truth. He was though, how could he not be. In every life they had ever lived he had always been ready to give everything up for her. It had always been her; it would always be her.

"That isn't the point of the curse." The sad smile he gave her only brought more silent tears to her eyes.

"I know."

He looked at her, searching her eyes for some sort of weakness he could use, but he found none. She had made up her mind and he would be a fool if he tried to change it. She had always been so strong; it was one of the many things he loved about her.

"So that is it then? We will stand on opposite sides of the line?" true fear set in, didn't she understand how powerful he was, Potter would stand no chance, he would die and so would everyone who stood with him. Couldn't she see that she would die?

"Draco you are free to make whatever choice you want. I just I can't do this again, I can't be doomed to life after life of repeating the same mistakes."

"I am not a mistake Hermione."

"Aren't you though?" She could see the hurt in his eyes. "Wasn't that the whole point of the witches curse. You were meant for someone else not me, and I was stubborn and took what wasn't mine to take. This is my punishment, our punishment. We weren't meant for one another."

"I don't believe that." He looked deep into the depths of her eyes. "I love as much today I as I did four hundred years ago. My love for you is timeless, nothing you can say will make me believe otherwise."

"It doesn't mean that it is meant to be. Sometime we don't get what we most desire in the world, we don't get the golden snitch at the end of the game."

He didn't know what else he could say that would make her believe him. She was being stubborn and a fool. "Keep yourself, and those two idiots you call friends safe." He said looking down at his hands. He wouldn't be able to survive if something happened to her. He would never forgive them if they were the reason she perished from this world.

"I will do my best." She tried to manage a smile but was unable to "Draco you should know that we won't be back next year."

"I love you Hermione."

"I love you too." She whispered wiping at the silent tears. He stood and took one last look at her before turning to leave. Walking away now would be hardest thing he would ever have to do.

Five years later.

The war had been brutal, the Wizarding world had lost so much when the end finally came. The Dark Lord had been ultimately been defeated but it had come at the cost of human life. So many of their friends had paid the price with their own life and their world was just starting to heal. Hermione Granger had found the aftermath of war much harder to handle than the actual war itself. She hadn't planned on surviving yet here she was five years later alive and well. Her guilt over surviving followed her everywhere. It seeped into every part of her life until she could no longer take it. She was revered as a hero of the war, but she didn't feel like a hero. She had only done what she had to, to survive. That's wasn't being a hero that was being human was.

In the years following the war Hermione had finished her education, gone on to study Magical Law and the fragile ties that bound Wizarding Britain to the rest of the world. She had earned herself a position in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. She worked closely with other foreign Magical governments to repair the ties that Voldemort and his death eaters had destroyed. She had thrown herself into her work, anything to keep from facing the hard truth about her life. She never liked to think she needed someone to complete her, she could do that all on her own. All the pieces were there, but there seemed to be one that just wouldn't fit itself neatly with the rest. In the years following the war she had had one failed relationship after the next, never able to commit herself to anyone. In the deepest recess of her brain she knew why this was of course, but it didn't stop herself from trying to prove the fact of the matter wrong. The true problem was she wasn't just Hermione Jean Granger, there was a very big part of her who was Helena Ophelia Vallens, who fell in love with a man who was far above her class and station, and when the same man fell in love with her, they had been cursed to repeat their life and betrayal for centuries to come. How could she ever explain this to anyone, and the only person who knew what this was like was long gone, having fled London after his eventual trial and acquittal.

After the end of her last disastrous failed relationship with Oliver Wood, she jumped at the position that had suddenly became available as liaison to the American Congress. The post required the liaison to live in America, and Hermione would take any excuse to leave England and the aftermath of her most epic failure yet. Ron and Harry had not understood why she felt like she needed to go, after all it was only a breakup and merlin knew she had plenty of those. Unable to explain why exactly it was she had to go caused a rift between her and her oldest friends. Ginny understood, she knew what it was like to search for something you couldn't put into words. The redheaded witch had known for a long time there were things Hermione was unable or unwilling to share.

_"__Are you ever going to tell me why you have been looking for all these years." Ginny had asked while she helped Hermione pack up her small London Flat. _

_"__I can't even begin to explain what it is. I just know that I will know it when I see it." Was Hermione clipped response. _

_"__Or maybe you do know what it is, but you won't allow yourself to have it. Maybe you don't feel worthy of it, not after everything that has happened. I just wish you could see that it is ok to be happy Hermione. No one will fault you for it, in fact I think many would say it was one of the reasons we fought a war. So, everyone could have a chance at being happy." Hermione didn't say anything as continued to pull books from the shelves and into boxes. Ginny had always had away of seeing right through her, even if she didn't have all the facts. "You have to promise me something." The she said when it was apparent Hermione would not give her the answers she wanted. _

_"__What is that Ginny?" _

_"__Promise me when you get to New York you will put yourself out there, really and truly out there. If you don't risk it all, how will you ever know if it is truly worth it. You can't go through life putting up walls to isolate yourself from the rest of the world, that is not living."_

_Hermione smiled a sad smile as she put down the books she was holding and walked over to her best friend and hugged her. She would miss this woman like no tomorrow, and no amount of visits or floo calls was going to make up for the fact there would very soon be an entire ocean between them. "I'll try Ginny I promise to try." _

When all her bags were finally packed, and the last five years of her life were filed away into neat boxes she said goodbye to her home. Goodbye to the person she had been, and started what she hoped was a new Chapter.

...

Draco Malfoy had not survived the war unscarred, the black mark on his arm was proof of that. When the war and his trail was over, he had put an ocean between himself and the bad memories that were left in the aftermath of the war. Free from his father and what was expected of him as the sole heir to the Malfoy name, which in all honesty did not hold much weight anymore, he was free in more than one way to make a new life for himself. The United States was free from the pureblood mantra that plagued Europe for centuries. Witches and wizards feared the No-Majs to be sure, but their fear was justified, they however didn't use that fear to insight prejudice. The Magical community wanted to live among the No-Maj's and be as invisible as possible. This is what appealed to Draco the most, being invisible. He had spent his life being known for his name, his heritage, his standing in their world, he thought being unknown sounded good for a change.

Draco had found this way of living to be rather refreshing and so at odds with the way he had been raised back in England. Though he was no longer the prejudice git he once was, America's law concerning commingling between Magically people and No-Maj's easy to adjust to. He was baffled by the muggles, and he was sure the only person who could ever make him understand them, had made it very clear she wanted nothing to do with him before the war. He couldn't blame her however, she had endured centuries of unhappiness because of him, because of her love for him.

Upon arriving in America he had reported to the American congress and registered as foreign wizard who was seeking refuge from his war torn homeland. The troubles from Europe were well known to the American Congress, and he had a fair number of hoops to jump through to be allowed to stay. In the end though he had been deemed safe and had been allowed to settle into a new life.

With what money he had left in his vaults he had been able to open a successful potions business that he operated out of New York City, and worked closely with Congress to help provided potions for the many Magical hospitals around the country. He had seen the way the No-Maj pharmaceutical company's ran their business and vowed never to allow greed to rule his sole purpose, to help people who are in need. This was what helped Draco give back to the world, he had been a boy who had been made to do horrible things. He could have died and been saved the inner turmoil, but he had chosen to live. This was the guilt he carried with him, his choice to live.

His life wasn't all bad though, he had made a good life for himself, he had made knew friends, built a successful business and he had even met someone who he thought he could spend the rest of his life with. She was American (obviously) she had been educated Ilvermorny where she had graduated top of her class before earning herself a position in Congress in the Major Investigation Department from there she had worked her way up the ranks, and was now the youngest witch or wizard to be appointed Vice President of congress. It would see that Draco Malfoy had a type; he could see the similarity's, but he did his best to ignore them. He was truly unaware just how much his new life would soon be turned upside down.

...

Hermione had settled into her new apartment on Manhattan island, down the street from NYU. It was a small just over five hundred square feet, but it was quaint and all she really needed. Tomorrow would be her first day working at congress and she was excited at the prospect of a new adventure. She had spent the last few days exploring the muggle city and getting familiar with her new surroundings. She had been on holiday here as a child with her parents before she knew she a witch, and she had been mesmerized by the city even then. It was known around the world as the city that never sleeps, and it had been easy to discover why. At any given time during the day a person could find a hundred things to do, the fast pass of it all helped breath new life into her, maybe she would be able to keep her promise to Ginny after all.

Part of her new job was help start a new project what would bring the American and British Magical community's closer together, and to help start a Magical task force that would help prevent another uprising such as Voldemort. It was taunting task to be sure, but Hermione was up for the challenge. There was nothing she wouldn't be able to do, if she put her mind to it.

Monday dawned, Hermione was having a hard time adjusting to the time difference and had been up for several hours by time eight o'clock rolled around and it was time to head to the Woolworth Building. It was easy enough to find seeing as she had been to Congress on one other occasion on behalf of the Ministry, and it was only a ten-minute subway ride from her apartment. Even after all this time living in the magical world, she still found muggle transportation a more appealing option.

At 8:15 on the dot she walked into MACUSA and was greeted by a flood of activity not unlike mornings at the Ministry, witch's and wizard's rushing about in what could only be called chaos. Spotting the welcome desk, she made a beeline towards the friendly looking witch who set behind the desk. "Hermione Granger." She told the witch.

"Yes," the young girl said riffling through a stack of papers. "This is your visitor's badge till your official badge is issued to you." She handed over the id card. "Someone should be a long to collect here soon. Welcome to MACUSA." She said with a smile.

"Miss Granger." She heard someone call from behind her, she turned from the desk to see a tall man of about 30 make his way over to her. He was handsome she noted with cropped dirty blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. "Miss Granger I am Finn Bishop, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm here to guide you to Miss Chamberlin's office."

"Please call me Hermione Finn." She held out her hand for him to shake which he did with a smile.

"Follow me." He said turning and making his way to the lifts, Hermione followed behind before falling into step with him. "Did you get settled alright; the city is a big place." He asked.

"Yes, but so is London." Finn smiled at her before he stepped into the lift and told the goblin where they we're headed.

"I've never been abroad, nice place London?" He asked trying to keep the small talk going, so they wouldn't fall into an uncomfortable silence, she grateful.

"It's lovely this time of year." Hermione smiled; a small ding sounded overhead telling alerting them to their arrival to level 50. "What is it that you do here." She asked as they stepped out of the lift and started making their way down a regal looking corridor, falling into step once again.

"The Office of Magic Relations and Education. I'll be your counterpart while you are here. We will be working closely with Madam Vice President Chamberlin forming the new task force." They had stopped in front of a set of large oak doors. The Plaque read Vice President Emily Chamberlin, Finn lifted one arm and knocked twice before allowing it to fall back to his side. After a few seconds the door sprang open of its own accord and allowed them entrance.

Finn walked in first with Hermione right behind him, the office was large with an entire wall of glass that overlooked the city just beyond the walls of congress. A large white desk sat in the middle of the room. A petite woman with shoulder length straight brown hair sat behind it absorbed in whatever file was in front of her.

This must be the formidable Emily Chamberlin; Hermione had heard all about from Kingsley. She was said to be smart and ambitious and had made a name for herself as soon as she stepped foot inside Congress's doors.

"Madam, Hermione Granger has arrived." Finn said once they were standing in front of her.

Emily looked up and gave Hermione a long once over before a smile spread across her beautiful face. She stood and rounded the desk holding out her hand once she reached her "It is such a pleasure to meet you at last." Emily said as the two women shook hands.

"Likewise, the Minister has nothing but praise when it comes to talking about you." Hermione said with a smile.

"Miss Granger, you should hear the way the man talks about you, I was half expecting a saint to walk through my door." Hermione laughed nervously but held her smile in place. "What you and your friends did for your community, well I'm just glad we have never had to face something like that here." Hermione nodded, what do you say to that? "Please both of you take a seat."

Both her and Finn took the chairs in front of Emily's desk. Hermione took another moment to look around the spacious office, it was very modern with lots of white. To much white if Hermione was being honest, it wasn't warm or inviting, and there seemed to be no personality about the office. It felt cold and detached.

"So, you have already meet Finn here, he is head of our magic relations division and will be who you report to here." Emily said getting down to business. "The point of this liaison position is help make the ties between our two country stronger. You still work for your Ministry of course, but we ask that you follow our laws while you are here. We know that you are a what do you call it? Muggleborn?" she looked apprehensive for a moment unsure of if she had gotten the term right.

"Yes." Hermione tried to smile encouragingly; she had been through too much for a misused phrase to offend her anyways.

"We know that you might be comfortable around the No-Maj's given your background, but we ask that you don't form any sort of relationship with any that you may come into contact with." There was something about the ways she said that, that made Hermione uncomfortable. What could this woman possible no about her background?

"You are aware that my lodgings are in the muggle world Madam Vice President." Hermione tried to hide her clipped tone. She hoped she had been able to pull it off.

"Oh, dear girl of course I am. Most of us live among them, but we don't interact with them more than what normal pleasantries require."

Dear girl? They had to be close to the same ages for Merlin's sake. "Right." was all she could manage.

"Now I want to turn our focus to the task force. It will be Finn and your job to get the other countries around the world on board for this task force. It will be a daunting task, but Kingsley assured me you would be up for it. There very well maybe a bit of traveling and long hours."

"Yes Madam. I am ready for the challenge."

"Excellent. Finn why don't you show Miss Granger to her office. Let her get settled and then show her around a bit. I know you have been here before, but it's easy to get lost in this place."

"Madam Vice President, your fiancé is here to see you." A disembodied voice said suddenly causing Hermione to jump slightly. It took her a moment to realize the voice was coming from the phone sitting atop her desk. For people who were so leery of the muggles, they sure didn't mind taking advantage of their technology.

"Tell him to wait one moment, we are just finishing up." Emily said pressing a finger to one of the buttons. "Hermione if you need anything don't hesitate to ask." She and Finn both stood up, both understanding they had just been dismissed. Hermione shook her hand again before following Finn to the door.

Hermione had in no way been prepared for what would happen next. Following Finn back out into the corridor she didn't see the man who was waiting just outside of the office, it wasn't until he spoke did, she take any notice of him. "Finn, what are you doing up here? I thought Em banished to twenty fifth floor last week."

Hermione's blood had run cold at the sound of the man's voice, she would know the sound of that voice anywhere, in any life. She looked up and grey eyes meet brown, Hermione was being forced to face with the last person she expected see here of all place. It was evident by the stunned looked she was receiving from the tall blond man he was just as surprised to see her, as she was to see him.

"Hermione." The man said in nearly a whisper.

"Draco."

_**Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks for reading chapter one of my new story about our favorite couple. This idea has been sitting around in my head for ages, and recently it started to take shape into something I hope you are all going to enjoy. If you liked this chapter and want to take this ride with me, please hit follow. As always, I love to hear from you guys the readers so drop a review. This story is going to be a little different as I have introduced two characters of my own and we won't see a whole lot of the main cast of Harry Potter, seeing as this story is going to mostly take place in America. If you think I got something wrong leave a review, I did some research but there isn't a whole lot about currant wizarding America. Big shout out to neby1224 for allowing me to bounce ideas off and looking at what I have come up with so far. Till next time!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Author's Notes: Hey guys! I hoped you guys liked the first chapter of this story. Thanks for the follows, it means a lot and I am excited to share this story with you all. Big shout out to neby1224 for being my sounding board for this story! Your words of encouragement mean the world to me. Hope you guys like chapter two! If you haven't hit the follow button yet please do, leave a review I always love hearing feed back from the readers! Just a friendly reminder in case any of us forgot, I don't own these characters JK Rowling does! Enjoy!_**

_I was always a thing that was going to happen to you, the lightning that would strike on a day that came with no thunder, and all the shelter in all the world couldn't have saved you. All my life I've been making my way to you._

_-Tyler Knott Gregson _

When Emily had told him, a new liaison had been appointed from the British Ministry of Magic the last person he had expected was Hermione. Which now seemed a little absurd to him if he truly thought about it. Why wouldn't it be her, there would be no one better for the job. Though he wouldn't admit it, he had been tracking her through the Daily Prophet he still had delivered, she had been a real rising star in her department, and many thought she was on track to be Minister in the next ten years. Draco though was not prepared to come face to face with the woman he so often thought of.

When he had moved to the states, he had made a promise to himself to leave her and their many lives they had shared together firmly in the past believing their paths would never cross again. Why would they? They lived on different continents and their work was vastly different. It was what she had wanted from him after all. Now though she was standing in front of him, with a scared look upon her face and at a loss for words. Hermione Granger was never at a loss for words.

"You two know each other?" Finn asked looking between the two onetime lovers. Truly unaware of just how well they knew one another.

"We attended Hogwarts together." Hermione said finding her voice, but not able to tear her eyes from Draco.

"Isn't that something." Finn mused aloud shaking his head. "We won't keep you Drake; I was just about to show Hermione to her new office."

"Right." Draco said with a shake of his head trying to clear his thoughts "It was good to see you Hermione. We still on for poker Friday night Finn?" He asked trying to get his brain to start working again.

"Yes! You best bring your Wallet Malfoy; you still owe me from last month's game."

Draco laughed patting Finn on the back "don't you worry Finn." The other man nodded before taking his leave, Hermione gave him one last searching look before following Finn.

He watched them go before turning back to the open door and slipping inside. Emily like usual was absorbed in whatever was in front of her, he shook his head and moved to sit on the chair Finn had just occupied. He cleared his throat to get her attention, she looked up and smiled.

"I didn't think I would see you till this evening. Don't forget we have dinner with my parents."

"I haven't forgotten, I was here to pull a permit to import some herbs from Africa. I thought I would come say hello."

"That was thoughtful of you." She smiled

"So, I just ran into the new British liaison. You didn't tell me it was Hermione Granger."

"I didn't think it was important. Knowing what I do about your past I suspected the two of you weren't friends." She shrugged her shoulders and looked back down to the report that was in front of her. "She seems nice enough though."

"I guess I wouldn't know."

"She came highly recommend by the Minister of Magic."

"I would hope so, back home she is known as the brightest witch of our age. Not unlike yourself."

"I have done my research on her; she has made a name for herself. I am surprised though she hasn't moved further up the ranks of British Ministry given the things she has done in such a short time period. There is speculation of course."

"After the childhood she led I am sure a bit of peace and quiet would be desirable or at least for now. It wasn't easy being Harry Potter's best friend."

"Ah yes, Harry Potter your childhood enemy." She laughed recalling the many stories he had told her about his time at Hogwarts, and how annoying Potter and his scar was.

"You thought less of her, Hermione I mean because of her parents?" He didn't like to talk about his past Emily knew all too well. She had learned early on not to ask to many questions. She knew of course of his past and his involvement in the war and his subsequent guilt. She didn't know the finer details however, after meeting him she had read through the file on him. The British had deemed him harmless and so had MACUSA. The Ministry hadn't given them details just that he had been cleared of all charges.

"I did."

"That's changed though hasn't it?"

"One day I woke up and I realized everything I had ever been taught was wrong, now I can appreciate her for what she is." He still had so many secrets he kept from this beautiful woman sitting in front of him. Some days he felt she suspected as much, but she never pried to deeply. He supposed she was hoping one day he would reveal them to her. How could he ever tell her though the darkest secret of them all.

"And what is that?"

"A talented witch, who had the courage to stand up to the evilest dark wizard to ever walk this earth. Knowing she might very well be killed doing it. She is brave, braver than I ever was."

"You aren't mad that I didn't tell you it was her, are you?"

"No of course not." He knew he shouldn't be, but he was happy to see her. Something he had long since locked away in his heart was starting to stir once again.

"Maybe while she is here, you could get to know her better. You don't talk about your home very often. I don't think you have been in contact with anyone since you arrived here."

Draco didn't say anything to this. He did know her. He knew her as Helena, as Margaret, as Allison and even as Catherine. He knew that witch better than anybody even the two idiots she called friends. "I think that just might bring back a lot of memories I don't want to dredge up." She gave him a pitying look but said no more on the matter. "Well I must be off, I just wanted to pop in and say hello."

"Seven o'clock don't be late. You know how much my father hates that."

"Yes dear." He got to his feet and headed for the door. Once again it seemed life was tossing him a curve ball, he knew what it meant. This was a test.

...

Things were never easy, Hermione knew this. This was supposed to be her fresh start though, she had left it all behind in the hopes she could start over. Who was she kidding though, she had been foolish to think she could make a clean break from their past. The whole point of this stupid cruse was to bring them together to then only tear them apart. This had been the way it had been in every stupid life they had been reborn into. She laughed bitterly, if Ginny knew she would say it was fate. Hermione didn't believe in fate, Helena had though, and Hermione supposed that was why she was where she was.

Trying to rid her mind of anymore thoughts of the past she shook her head. Finn had showed her to the small office she was to use while here. It was on the twenty fifth floor and just down the hall from his own. It was spacious enough; these American's liked their square footage she mused to herself. There was a large fireplace with an international floo connection that would allow her to keep in contact with the Ministry. It would be useful, she had been worried she might have to rely on owl communication, though she had a cellphone and so did her friends the Ministry hadn't caught on to the convenience of the phone or any other form of muggle technology.

She had plenty of bookshelves and filing cabinets. Making a mental note to have Ginny send the rest of the boxes from her office she set down behind her desk and started to thumb through the files Finn had left her. It seemed that the last person who had held her job had made several proposals on ways to keep the two country's better connected. A student exchange program between Hogwarts and Ilvermorny, even a magical tournament for the two schools. Even more exchange programs, the one that caught her attention the most was for the Auror department. She wondered idly what Ron and Harry would think of that. She would have to schedule a floo call with Kingsley's very soon to discuss some of these at length.

It was nearing lunch time when Finn poked his head through her door. "I was wondering if you might want to grab some lunch. There is an amazing deli just down the street."

Now that she thought about it, she was getting rather hungry, the two pieces of toast she had that morning weren't cutting it. She smiled at him and nodded before standing and grabbing her bag. "Lead the way."

While they walked Hermione had learned that Finn was twenty-seven, he was originally from Virginia but had relocated to the city when he started working for Congress and had been educated at Ilvermorny. He had three sister Sarah, Elizabeth, and Harmony who were all younger than him and all a pain in his ass. His words, but he said it with the affection of an older brother.

"So, you know Malfoy." She could tell when they had left Chamberlin's office, he had wanted to ask more questions but had reframed from doing so then. It seemed his curiosity was getting the better of him.

"Yes, we were in the same year actually."

"So, you know about his past?" The question was causal enough, but she had the suspicion he was fishing for information. Hermione figured it was unlikely that Draco would have divulged much information on the topic.

"People change Finn, it's hard to explain to someone who doesn't really know what we all went through. Every single one of us were children, who were put into an impossible situation. Harry Potter was the chosen one, but Draco Malfoy was boy who didn't have a choice." She wondered if she were to blame for that. If she had ran away with him, he wouldn't have been faced with the horrors he had to endure. Neither of them would have, life would have been different but still the same.

"I've been friends with him ever since he started dating Emily, he doesn't talk about England or the war." This didn't surprise her; she and her friends didn't talk about what they had been through.

Her own curiosity was getting the better of her. "How long have they been together?" She felt a slight pang of jealousy but had tried to push it away all morning. She had been the one to send him away after all.

"Nearly three years now. They've been engaged for two, he doesn't seem to be in any hurry to make it to the alter though. Makes one wonder why he even asked her to marry him in the first place."

"We all do things in our own time." She wondered if he had found it easy to move on. She herself had several boyfriends over the last five years, but never able to commit. Oliver Wood had asked her to marry him, a big part of her had wanted to say yes. She couldn't though, something was holding her back or more like someone. Could that be true for Draco, was she the one holding him back from marrying Emily?

The deli Finn had taken her to was surprisingly good Hermione thought, glad the food was indeed as good as Finn had hyped it to be. They continued to chat over lunch, having found a little table by the window.

Her knowledge on American wizards was far less than she had originally thought. For instance, Americans thought it was better to live among the No-Majs, hiding in plain sight. Too often in the past when witches and wizards gathered in one place to live, the No-Majs would think they were some sort of cult gathering, which only garnered them more attention. The last thing they wanted.

What surprised her even more was the way the American's handled magical children born to No-Maj's. In Britain when a child reached the Appropriate age for Hogwarts, a professor and or Ministry official would visit the child's home and explain to the family what it was to be a witch or wizard. In America however a member from congress would seek the child out, and inform them of who they really are, the catch was their parents could never know. The parents could only know that their child was gifted and had been selected to attend a prestigious boarding school in Massachusetts. The No-maj born or muggle born had no choice but keep their most discerning quality a secret from his or her family. It truly blew her mind just how extreme the American's took the secrecy of their world. Hermione couldn't even begin to imagine how she could have kept her true self from her mother and father.

After lunch and her history lesson the two made their way back to Congress, Finn showed her around their floor and filled her in on the do's and don'ts of the office. He accompanied her to register her wand and made sure she got her official badge. She was official, she thought looking down at it. At just past five he poked his head into her office once more and announced he was leaving for the day and wished her a good evening.

"I have scheduled a floo call tomorrow morning at ten am with the French Minister to talk about our plans for the task force. You should have a file that outlines the treaty we are hoping to have the other nations sign."

"Already started to look over it."

"Excellent, well I will see you in the morning then." He gave her a sweet smile before leaving her alone in her office once more. She was surprised by how much she liked him. He was down to earth and some what a free spirit. She thought it might even be possible that he was ladies' man from some of the stories he had shared over lunch. She thought over all he seemed like a good guy.

Once he was gone Hermione started to gather her things and the few files, she wanted to take home with her. This would surely be a day she wouldn't soon forget, adjusting to life in New York might be a little more challenging than she had originally thought it would be. Since there was Draco Malfoy, what was she to do about that.

By six she was back to her apartment and was unpacking the Indian take out she had gotten on the way. Looking at the clock she realized it was already ten in London and she had promised to call Ginny to tell her about her first day.

Pulling her cellphone from her bag she dialed the number two speed dial and waited for it ring. Ginny picked after just two. "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to call or not."

"Sorry Gin just got back from work. Four-hour times difference remember?"

"Right, that is going to take some getting use too." She laughed "So how was your first day?"

Where should she even start? "It was good, I was able to meet with the Vice President today briefly."

"What she like? Harry is always talking about how much Kingsley's adores her."

"She ambitious that's for sure, I don't know, the Americans they are so different. It's still so hard to believe how backwards their thinking of muggles is. Don't get me wrong they aren't prejudice by any means. Just still so fearful of them."

"Come on Hermione you learned about the Salem witch trials like the rest of us in muggle studies. Is it so hard to believe there is still a certain amount of fear?"

"I guess, I don't know. It will be an adjustment to be sure."

"Did you meet any cute guys today?" of course she would ask that Hermione thought, rolling her eyes. "I can hear your eye roll, by the way." She added with a laugh. Of course, she could.

"Ginny." Hermione said rather exasperatedly.

"What?" Her innocent tone didn't fool Hermione though.

"I met one person today outside of Emily Chamberlin and that was a wizard by the name of Finn Bishop." She couldn't bring herself to tell Ginny about running into Malfoy. Not when there was so much, she hadn't told her. Where would she even start, and how was she supposed to explain that Draco Malfoy arrogant extraordinaire, death eater, and git was engaged to the Vice President of Magical Congress. Or the fact that this bit of news wasn't sitting well with Hermione no matter how cute she thought Finn might be.

"He sounds sexy." Again, Hermione rolled her eyes. Only Ginny could judge someone's sex appeal by just their name.

"Ginny!"

"What? He is sexy, though isn't he?"

"I'll admit that he is rather good looking, but he is just someone I will be working with. Rather closely might I add, he is head of Magic Relations."

"You could use a bit of office romance in your life Hermione. You have been out of the game since you and Oliver broke up, get your feet wet again with a sexy American."

"I don't need the not so settle reminders Gin. Look you know I just haven't found the right person." That was a lie, and Hermione was thankful that at that moment there was an entire ocean between them. Ginny always had a way of knowing when Hermione was lying or telling half-truths. Hermione usually wouldn't budge but it didn't keep Ginny from trying to wedel it out of her.

A knock suddenly sounded from the door. Must be the maintenance man from the building Hermione thought. She had called last night about the leaky sink the bathroom. "Hold on Ginny there is someone at the door."

"Oh, I hope it is this Finn fella." She could hear her say.

"He doesn't even know where I live." Hermione laughed as she walked to the door and pulled it open without looking through the peep whole.

It wasn't maintenance, it wasn't Finn either. "Ginny I am going to have to call you tomorrow." Hermione said as she stared into the silver eyes of Draco Malfoy. She didn't allow Ginny to respond before she disconnected the call.

"What are you doing here? How do you even know where I live?"

"Can I come in?" He didn't bother to answer her questions.

"No."

"Then how about a walk? Washington Square Park is just a few blocks away."

"Why are you here?" She asked again.

"To see you obviously." The amused look on his face annoyed her.

Her brain was telling her no, that this was a very bad idea. She had closed the door on him a long time ago, and just because the two of them now lived presumably in the same city or at the very least same Continent did not mean that door needed to reopen. They could easily go about their lives as if nothing had changed, because nothing had changed.

He smelled off spearmint, freshly mowed grass, and apples though and she found herself reaching for the coat she had hung beside the door. Her Indian food would have to wait, besides that was what heating charms were for.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: Hope find you all well. So, this is the first real one on one encounter for our favorite couple. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter. Please review, always love to hear from the reader's. **

_I still haven't figured out how to sit across from you and not be madly in love with everything you do._

_-William C. Hannan _

They had walked three blocks in total silence before either one of them found the courage to speak, and it was him who finally found it.

"So, New York." It was lame and he knew it. But what did you say to someone who you hadn't seen in five years? Someone you didn't think you would ever see again.

"Yeah."

"Why?" this question had been burning at the back of his mind all day. Why now was she here?

"I thought I was making a fresh start. Now I am not so sure."

"You think it's the curse?" He didn't know why he asked. He was sure that was what she was thinking.

"Of course, I think it is the curse. What else would it be?" he could tell by her tone that she was annoyed.

"Fate." They had entered the park from the south and started walking towards the center. She gave him a skeptical look, that spoke volumes

"I don't believe in fate." She said stubbornly.

He snorted at this, he stopped and grabbed her arm to keep her from heading on. "Since when do you Helena Vallens not believe in fate." It had been nearly fifty years since she had heard him address her as such. Hearing it now stirred something within her.

"Hermione Granger isn't as fool hearted as Helena. She is logical." The look she gave him was angry, but he didn't need it, he knew what she was feeling without her having to give it away.

"And yet here you are." He mused and started to walk again, after a second she followed him.

"Why did you come?" She had not been happy with the answer that he had given her back at her front door.

He didn't say anything for a long moment, just continued to walk. October was nearly upon them and the sun had already started to set, this time next month it would be dark at this time, as Americans still observed daylight savings and time would be falling back an hour. Time...was a funny thing.

"It occurred to me today after our run in that I don't know you very well." He said finally.

"I don't think there is a person on this earth who knows me better than you." She mused.

"Perhaps, I have known you by many names. I don't know Hermione Granger though, do I?"

"Maybe it has slipped your mind, but we did attend seven years together at a boarding school in Scotland. I think you know Hermione well enough."

"I would disagree with you; I know the girl who I thought you were until Henry Eason became conscious in this life. Which is to say I know very little because I never bothered to know."

"What does it even matter?" She huffed coming to a stop. "It won't change anything. It won't change the situation that we now find ourselves in. It won't change the fact that yet again you are engaged to be married to someone else. We shouldn't even open this door again; it will only make it harder." That pang of jealousy from this morning was back. It was eating at her, and no matter how she tried it wouldn't go. It was absolutely absurd, she didn't even like the man standing in front her. You don't even know him a small voice said.

"Maybe it will, maybe it won't." he was being aloof, and she didn't like it.

"Be serious."

"I am being serious. Hermione, I think I have done a very good job at doing what it is that you asked of me. You can't think though that now that you are here back with in arms reach that I am going to be able to stay away. There is no war looming in front of us anymore, there is no logical reason for me to stay away."

"Logical reason, I don't know maybe how you are engaged to the freaking Vice President of the American Magical Congress for one." She said seething.

"Keep your voice down." He said hushing her and pulling her to the side and out of the way of the No-Majs wondering about the park. "Has it ever occurred to you that we could be soulmates? That us falling in love was not our fault, and that our inability stay away from each other was because we were destined for one another, created for one another. That maybe just maybe Cassandra Thomas was perhaps just a little too dense to understand that, and she cursed us for something we had no control over."

"I don't believe in soulmates, just like I don't believe in fate."

"Then how is it that I have been able to feel you all day?" He asked stubbornly. "Your every change of mood, the thirst for new knowledge? You aren't sure you like Emily. You think Finn is attractive, you were annoyed with the female Weasley when I arrived at your apartment. How is it possible then for me know all of this?"

"I don't believe you, so maybe you had a few lucky guesses. It's not possible for you feel my emotions." The very idea was scary.

"I have always been able to feel you, in every life we have lived, it's as if there is an invisible chain connecting you to me."

"If that is true then why have I never been able to feel you?"

"I don't know, maybe you won't allow yourself. Maybe you are scared, maybe you don't want to. Maybe you have been trying to distance yourself from me longer than either one of us have realized."

"Of course, I am scared. Every life we have lived I have died a horrible and gruesome death because of my love for you. I am always waiting for it happen, waiting for my time to come yet again. Waiting, I am always waiting."

"Helena." He said softly reaching to take her hand into his, but she pulled away as if his touch had burned her.

"Don't call me Helena. I am not the Naïve girl who fell for a man who was well beyond her class and station life, I am not the girl who was arrogant enough to take what was not hers to take."

"You will always be her."

"If me being here is going to be too much for you. Tell me now and I will leave, I will go back to London."

"You Hermione Granger would run away."

He asked as if the very idea was absurd, which it was of course Hermione Granger didn't run from anything "I don't want that."

"Then tell me you can put this." She pointed between them "you and me, behind you."

"I can." If she wasn't going to budge on the matter than he wouldn't push her away.

"Then I guess I will see around Draco." She didn't allow him to say anything else before she turned and walked back towards her apartment. For a city this big it was starting to feel rather small.

That night she barely slept, unable to get the picture of him standing in the setting suns light, or his words out of her mind. Soulmates, the idea was absolutely absurd. The part of her brain that was Helena though asked her if it really was so unbelievable. Helena would want to believe him she thought bitterly, Helena would do anything for him. Hermione hadn't been lying to him though, when said she wasn't Helena.

In ever life before this one, when Helena awoke from what she could only assume was a deep slumber she had control over whoever it was she had been reincarnated into. This time it was different though, Hermione could feel Helena, she could feel the yearning she felt for Henry, but Hermione wasn't controlled by it like she had been in the past.

She supposed it was why she had been able to make the choice to stay in fight during the war instead of running away with him sixth year. Why she had been able to keep herself from seeking him out after it was all over with. Now though she feared that Helena was taking control again, why else was she here in New York? She had jumped at the opportunity to come when the post became available. Had that been Helena? Had she known taking the post would bring her closer to Henry? Was it the curse? Or were they truly soulmates? Always destined to find one another and never apart.

There were to many questions for her to be able to find any kind of peaceful sleep.

...

Draco had barely made it to dinner with the Chamberlin's on time and the death glare Emily had sent him all night only amplified how annoyed she was with him.

The not so settle hints Mrs. Chamberlin kept dropping all night about their lack of wedding date, only annoyed her further. Emily to her credit just smiled and pretended not her hear her mother, though Draco knew she was in fact bothered by his disinterest in settling on a date.

When he had met Emily, she had fascinated him. He could admit that it was his own vanity that took notice of the beautiful new up and comer that morning. It was why he had stopped and started up a conversation with her. Her hair was longer then, and her eyes the color of the Caribbean ocean. He found himself getting lost in their depths as he tried to find an excuse to keep the conversation going while he mustered up the courage to ask her to have dinner. He had heard the whispers around New York of the ambitious witch who was starting make a name for herself, with her take no prisoners attitude. It was her mind though that had gotten him to stick around. She was brilliant, she had dreams, she was every bit the ambitious prodigy people described her as, a small part of his brain whispered she is a pure blood even if she is American. Emily Chamberlin had made Draco Malfoy forget he was Henry Eason.

When Hermione had made it clear she wouldn't choose the same path, he had been heart broken or should he say Henry had been. He had loved this witch for century's, suddenly Henry's love was no longer enough. It was Henry's broken heart though that had helped Draco push him to the farthest reaches of his mind where Draco could lock him away. The time and distance had made it harder for Draco to feel Hermione, and he was able to disconnect from her. He was able to move forward with his life. He was able to fall in love with someone else.

The one thing he couldn't seem to manage however was committing. Asking her to marry him had been easy, celebrating their engagement had been elating. Setting a date, had proven difficult. He hadn't been able to understand his hesitation, Draco Malfoy wanted to marry Emily Chamberlin, but he couldn't. As if this inner turmoil wasn't enough, Hermione freaking Granger had to show up and complicate everything.

"Do you even want to get married anymore.?" Emily asked now that they were alone in their apartment.

"Of course, I want to get married." Did he though? His subconscious asked him. Yes, he did, he wouldn't have asked if he didn't.

"Why haven't we set a date? You keep pushing it off for one reason or another." He didn't say anything, what could he? She was right it was always him who pushed it off. "Where were you? You were nearly late."

"I had a meeting that ran a bit longer than I thought it would." He cringed inwardly at the lie. She didn't question his response, why would she? He never given a reason not to before. He had always been upfront and honest with her, if it was something, he wasn't comfortable discussing he told her as much.

"Draco, I need you to tell me now if you have changed your mind. I can't keep hanging here in limbo if this isn't what you want."

"We will set a date. I promise." He said soothingly.

"Soon?"

"Yes, soon."

...

"You look like death." Finn said the next morning when he came into Hermione's office to say good morning.

"Bad Indian food." Was her only reply.

"Did you have a chance to look over the file regarding the new task force?"

She had at two am, when sleep continued to evade her. Work had always been a good source of distraction. The proposed task force was simple, Wizarding nations coming together to combat the rise of dark magic. The goal was getting as many countries to participate as possible, creating a untied magical army to fight the dark arts. If or when a breakout occurred the idea was to dispatch said army to eliminate the threat. The idea was the task force would be under the control of the International Confederation of Wizards.

"Yes, and I would be remiss if I didn't tell you I fear we are going to have quite a bit of push back from some of the representatives of the confederation."

"You really think so?" he asked perching himself of the chair in front of her desk.

"I think it is easier for all of us to turn a blind eye to certain situations when they do not directly affect us."

"You speak from experience." It wasn't really a question and Finn had not meant it as such. Wizarding Britain had no allies when Voldemort took power.

"So, I think we need a clear plan of action, a clear outline of what we are going to be asking of them. And we need to get the key players on board. The French, the Germans, the Bulgarians, basically anyone who was affected by Voldemort, no matter how small. Before his downfall it wasn't just Britain he had in his clutch's."

"We have the meeting already set for the French President today, I will get my assistant on scheduling meetings with the rest for hopefully later on this week." Finn started scribbling down some notes he planned to drop off at Anita's desk.

"I will get into contact with my Minister, see if he can help push this along in anyway. He might have some political capital he is willing to spend on this." She offered; it had been Kingsley's idea to create this group after all. He didn't want another community to face what they had faced alone.

"What should we call this project? I know we have been referring to it as the task force, but I feel that is very much an American saying. What would be something everyone can relate to?"

"Auror Army."

"Double A for short." Hermione laughed nodding her head.

All in all, their first meeting had been rather promising, but Hermione knew not to get her hopes up. She had been right when she said the European wizards would have more of incentive to back such a group, but they would surely face opposition from others who weren't as geographically close.

By the end of the day Anita had come through and had schedule meeting with Germany, Russia, Bulgaria, Australia, Finland, Spain, and Sweden, for varying times during the rest of the week.

With their first meeting out of the way Hermione turned her attention to some of the proposed exchange programs. First on her list was the Auror program. She pulled out her cellphone and dialed Harry's number. She had been dreading this phone call, seeing as things had been left a little rocky between them when she left. However, it had to be done seeing as he was the head of the Auror department, and had a special way of getting Kingsley to agree to things. She couldn't see a way of not involving him. It took four rings before he answered, and when he did, he sounded tired.

"Hey there stranger". He said, his voice sounded wary.

"Right back at you." She said, trying to sound friendly.

"How are things going?" This of course was a loaded question; she knew he was fishing for information.

"Well its only my second day, but it's not bad." Even though I have been here less than a week and things are already complicated by the appearance of Draco Malfoy. But he didn't need to know that.

"I have a feeling this isn't a social call, seeing as it is just after one there." He was always more perspective than she gave him credit for.

"No, it is not." She bit her lip.

"What is it that I can do for you?" he sounded sincere, and she was suddenly feeling horrible for the way she had left things between them when she left England. He hadn't deserved that, and they had been friends for way to long, for her to have not given him a better explanation than 'because I have to Harry'. He of all people deserved to know the things she had kept hidden all these years.

"Have you talked with Kingsley much about my assignment here?" she asked hoping some background might help.

"In passing, not in much detail."

"We are working on strengthening our ties to the American's"

"Right, what does that have to do with me though?" she could tell he was a little lost.

"Well, your office mainly."

"Ok I am listening."

"I am currently looking at a proposal for an exchange program between our two Auror offices."

"Isn't this something you should really be clearing with the Minister."

"Well I was hoping you would be willing to help me broach the subject with him. You know how he can be sometimes hoarding his best assets." They both laughed at this because it was very much the truth.

"And seeing as I am head of the division." He was catching on.

"Exactly."

"Alright, I will help. But I make no promises. What is that you want me to do."

"Get him to agree to a conference call with three of us and your counterpart here. MACUSA President has already signed off on the proposal. If we can get Kingsley to agree we can get the ball rolling potentially have the program up and running by the end of the month."

"Forever the ambitious one." he teased her.

"So, can I count on you?" she ignored it, crossing her fingers.

"Yes, you can count on me." She could hear his smile on the other end. She really could always count on Harry.

"Great, let me know when he can squeeze it into his schedule, and I will get it done here on my end."

"Will do."

"Thanks Harry. Tell Gunny I will call her tonight. And give everyone my love and tell them all I miss them." They hung up; Hermione sighed with relief as she turned to look out the window. She would make this all work, she had no choice, her being here was for a reason and Draco Malfoy wasn't that reason.


	4. Chapter 4

_It's the friends we meet along the way that help us appreciate the journey._

By the end of the week Finn and herself had gotten all the Magical leaders in Europe to agree to negotiations for the new army. It was a start, but they had a long way to go if they wanted to bring forth the new measure at the next conference that was to be held in December before the end of the year. In the coming week the two planned to travel to Canada in the hopes of securing Minister Moore's agreement for the Canadians participation.

Hermione had been successful getting Kingsley's approval to send Harry to the states, to start the beginning stages of the new Auror program. Harry would arrive the week after next and would be staying with Hermione the duration of his visit. Congress was a buzz with the news of the impending visit from Harry Potter himself.

Yes, her first week held great promise for the coming weeks, and the long road ahead of them.

Hermione had grown to rather like Finn over the course of the week, he reminded her of both Harry and Ron in equal measure. She had also learned a great deal more about him as a person outside of the work they were doing together. She had known he had been educated at Ilvermorny from their first lunch, but as the week went on, she learned he had belonged to the Horned Serpent one of the schools four house. He and Emily Chamberlin had been in the same year, had been friends and even dated for a bit towards the end of their tenure at the school. Ultimately though they had agreed they were ill suited for one another and their split had been an amicable one. After they both entered entry level positions in Congress, they had been able to restore their friendship, and had developed a nice working relationship based off mutual respect.

His parents owned a small Wizarding hotel in Washington D.C. the hotel had been established when MACUSA headquarters still resided in the city. The little Inn, as Finn likes to refer to it as, had been passed down through the generations on his mother's side of the family. Even though MACUSA home was now New York City there remained a rather large Wizarding population in the D.C. area. Life in America Hermione found held so much history considering their roots only went back a couple hundred years.

It was lunch time; Finn had sent Anita out to the deli they had visited Monday for take away and the two were currently sitting in Hermione's office going over some of the finer details concerning the American/British Auror program.

"Lodgings?" Finn asked as he scribbled down notes and reminders to schedule the appropriate meetings for Mr. Potter's upcoming visit.

"I think the Ministry and Congress should provide them." Hermione said looking over some of the ideas she had the night before when reviewing the project at home. "We have agreed to a six months terms, it is a relatively short time period. Besides the fact we have agreed to make this a mandatory program, not voluntary. We should at the very least provide the housing."

"And if the Auror is married or has children?"

"They should be allowed to accompany them. I think everyone could benefit from exposer to something different than we are all use to. Besides magic makes it easy to enlarge a space or vice versa."

"And we have agreed to one Auror at a time?"

"I think to start, Yes." Hermione took another bite of her sandwich, closing her eyes a savoring the taste. Man, those muggles really know what they are doing. "As the program ages we can revisit this."

"Where did you live?" Finn asked setting his papers aside and digging into his own lunch.

"I had a little flat near Charing Cross. It was close to the entrance of Diagon Alley."

"What is that?" asked with interest before taking a bit of his food.

"Only the most magical place in the whole world." Hermione said with a laugh. "It's where most of the Wizarding shops are located in Britain."

"Oh, so it's like Main Street."

"Main Street?" what a funny name she thought with amusement.

"You've never heard of Main Street?" Finn was shocked by this.

"No... where is it?"

"Here in New York. Its entrance is the bull over on Wall Street. I can't believe you haven't been; I think it might give this Diagon Alley you are talking about a run for its money."

"Then you will have to take me, and I will judge for myself." Hermione laughed again. The door behind them opened to reveal Vice President Chamberlin. They both stood when she walked in, she smiled and motioned for them to sit down.

"I have just been going over the work you two have managed to accomplish this week. I must say I was very impressed."

"We are just doing what we are being paid to do." Hermione said with a smile. Even after all these years she still found it hard to take a compliment, even if it was well deserved.

"I have asked Thomas, my secretary to arrange rooms for your trip to Canada next week. I have a feeling Mr. Moore is going to give you two a bit more trouble than our counterparts abroad."

"Thank you, madam." Finn said with a nod of his head. Hermione found it funny how oddly formal Finn addressed someone who he referred to as one of his oldest friends.

"How many times do I have to ask you not to refer to me that way Finn. It makes me feel old, and we have known each other far too long." Emily smiled at the man. "I came because I wanted to invite you both to dinner this evening with me and Draco."

Hermione had only been able to push Draco from her mind this week, because she had thrown herself into the work laid in front of her. Now with the weekend approaching she wondered if it would be so easy, especially having to sit through dinner across from the man. "Oh, I don't know." Hermione started to say.

"Oh, you must, it's been so long since someone from his past has been to New York. I think it would do him some good." Not likely Hermione thought.

"I am not sure what he has told you, but I will be frank by saying our past with one another is a bit rocky at best." Hermione supposed this statement was accurate in more ways than one.

"All the more reason to do it, no? Given that you are both who you are, and the backgrounds in which you come from. I can assure you though Miss Granger, he is no longer the boy you knew. Besides I would like to get to know the famed Hermione Granger for myself."

When she put it this way, how could she really refuse. Hermione was sure, that he like her had not told anyone of their true past, the past that didn't include Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. "What was it that you had in mind?" Hermione finally asked deciding that going and suffering through was probably the best option.

"Oh excellent." She said clapping her hand together. "There is this wonderful little Italian restaurant down on Main Street."

"It looks like you are going see Main Street sooner rather than later." Finn said with a smile.

Finn had agreed to pick up Hermione from her place at seven o'clock and show her the way. Seeing as Main Street was hidden away from the No-Majs she would need a bit of help finding the entrance.

There was knock on the door at seven on the dote, Hermione answered the door with a smile and asked him to come in for a moment while she gathered her things. Grabbing the small purse, she had laid out for the evening, she busied herself stuffing it full of the things she would need. Her wand, her congressional ID card, a few Dragot (the American Wizarding currency) and a lipstick Ginny had made her buy before she moved.

"Alright, I am ready to go. Lead the way." She said finally.

"Do you mind side along apparition?"

"No not at all. Let me just lock up the apartment." After locking the door and setting a few wards in place Finn offered her his arm which she took gladly. With a loud pop they were gone.

When they appeared again, they were down a side street. After making sure the coast was clear they emerged from the ally onto the world-famous Wall Street. Muggles around the world knew this place because it was home to the American muggles stock exchange. In primary school, before Hermione attended Hogwarts, she had learned about the world's stock market. The idea of a world exchange had always fascinated Hermione. She mused it was perhaps the reason she had gone into the field of magical relationships between countries.

Seeing as it was just after seven on a Friday evening, and the stock exchange was closed for the weekend, the streets were devoid of too many muggles walking about. They quickly crossed the street to where the statute of the bull stood.

Finn walked to a spot directly in between the bull and a bronze statue of a little girl, Hermione followed close behind. "You see that paver?" Finn asked pointing down to the ground. Hermione peered down, there in the middle of the paver where two crossed wands Etched into the ground.

"Yes."

"If you stand directly over it, you become completely invisible to any No-Maj's who might be milling around. This way you can raise your wand, move your wand in the air, creating an X and say freo." He demonstrated his intrusions and whispered the old English word for open. Before her eyes a small opening opened in the middle of the sidewalk. She had to admit, it was very cool bit of magic. Finn looked over to her and smiled at the look of amazement she wore. He offered her his arm again which she took and the two stepped into the portal. Once they were inside the opening closed behind them.

"So how you do you get into your Diagon Ally?"

"You have to tap a few bricks." It sounded a bit lame; she didn't mention the rubbish bins.

"I really need to plan a trip to London." He said laughing.

In front of her was a street not unlike Diagon Alley. It was lined with dozens of shops and restaurants. There were apothecaries, broom shops, a magical pet store, a book shop, a bank and other various businesses. Most of the business were closed now, and Hermione promised herself she would come back and spend a full day exploring what the Americans had to offer in the form of stocking an everyday magical household.

"The restaurant is this way." Finn said pointing up the street. Turning her attention back to the evening's main event she followed along. When they came across a large building with words DM International, she stopped. The building was very modern and felt out of place, nestled between two brick buildings that were clearly from the turn of the century.

"What is that?" she asked pointing up.

"That's Drake's building." When Hermione looked a bit bewildered, he went on. "after he moved here, he started a potions business. It's grown quite a bit in the last few years. He now provides most of the potions for the different hospitals around the Country, and a lot of the apothecaries everyday witches and wizards visit."

"I had no idea." She had remembered he had always been good in school; his grades had rivaled her own. She thought he might have even been a tad better than her at potions, seeing this stirred something inside her. Pride?

"Well you wouldn't, he mainly deals here in the states, but I know he has thought of opening offices back home. Come on we will be late if we don't hurry."

When they arrived at the little restaurants that was tucked away at the end of Main Street, they were ushered back to a table set for three, Emily was already sitting there waiting for them. They took their seats and ordered wine from the waiter who had been standing by for their arrival.

"It seems Draco was called away on business. Something about a bad batch up a sobering potion that had been delivered to a hospital in California. So, it looks like it will be just the three of use."

Hermione relaxed at this bit of news. The night was already turning around. "I am sure we will manage just fine." Hermione said, the waiter was back and placing their drinks in front of them. Hermione took a long sip and smiled in satisfaction. Wine always made things better.

"So, Miss Granger tell me what it was like going to Hogwarts." Emily said smiling taking a sip from her own glass.

"Please call me Hermione, I feel that we will get to know each other rather well in my time here." She smiled at Emily, she still wasn't sure if she liked the witch or not, but she could certainly appreciate the witch for who she was. "Well I am sure my own version of how things were will differ from Malfoy's. I had grown up knowing I was different, but not really understanding why. When I was eleven a teacher from Hogwarts showed up on my parent's doorstep and informed me, I was indeed a witch. I thought it was too good to be true. Sure, I had shown magic early on, but my parents had no idea what to make of the fact, I often was able to obtain things of want or need without seeming to move. Or how I turned my aunt Millie's hair purple when I was seven after she told me I was little too bookish. It seemed I finally had the my hands on every book imaginable to get to know this new world better." Finn and Emily both laughed, Hermione took another sip of wine.

"When I got to Hogwarts though I found I didn't really fit in there either. There were other muggle-born kids, and plenty of half-bloods, but my bookish nature and my love for my studies kept me isolated. The other students in my year and in my house found me annoying and often called me a know it all. It wasn't till the incident with the mountain troll did I have people I could call friends."

Emily choked on the sip of wine she had just taken "mountain troll?" She asked couching slightly. It was then the waiter reappeared to take their orders for dinner. They all quickly ordered, once he was gone their attention fully trained on Hermione once again. "So, this mountain troll?" Finn asked with great amusement.

"Yes. Well I had been in the girl's bathroom crying all afternoon because of something Ron Weasley had said to me that morning in charms. It was Halloween, and Professor Quill who had been turned by Voldemort had let in a fully-grown mountain troll, well the troll had found its way into the girl's bathroom where I had been hiding. It was Harry and Ron who found me and saved me. And we have been friends ever since."

They both looked dumbfounded at the idea of a teacher setting loose a troll in the castle. As dinner went on, she told them more about the adventures her and the boys had shared, about being petrified, about the rat who was wormtail, their years at school had been plagued with the threat of Voldemort from the very beginning. How to many people, Malfoy included thought she was second class because of her so-called dirty blood. She told them how it wasn't till after the war and her return to finish her finally year at Hogwarts did she finally feel that she might actually belonged in this world.

What she didn't tell them was, how the awakening of Helena Vallens helped her come to terms with who she was as a witch. How she explained the amount of power Hermione possessed, and how truly gifted she was in the art of magic. There wasn't a spell in the world she couldn't master, expect for maybe a Patronus. She still till this day had a hard time mastering that spell.

"It's a miracle anyone of you were able to learn anything with all of that going on." Emily laughed.

"What about you. Finn has been telling me all about himself this week. I know you two went to school together, even that the two of you dated. But tell me about you."

Emily smiled a secret smile across the table at Finn that made Hermione wonder if their relationship was a causal as Finn had made it out to be.

"My father was an Auror and my mother a healer, my father is retired now, and my mother still works a few days a week. I grew up here in the city. I'm an only child, like you. I was also very bookish growing up, my parents were both successful people in their chosen fields and I knew I had a lot to live up too."

"What house were you in? Everything Finn has told me about Ilvermorny has fascinated me. It sounds like a lovely place to go to school."

"I was a Horned Serpent like Finn. I fear that our time there wasn't nearly as adventurous as your time at Hogwarts."

"I think I could have done without so much of it." Hermione laughed. "As it is, if I never have to raise my wand again to defend myself again, I would be all to happy."

"Why haven't you pursued the road to Minister Hermione?" Finn asked, he had been rather quite most of the evening, enjoying just sitting back and watching the two witches get to know one another.

"Well I haven't ruled it out completely. Not yet anyways. My department is a good road to take to the Minister's chair if I do choose to take it. I have been enjoying getting to know the Wizarding cultures around the world though and helping to bind the ties that pull us all together. Besides I'm not really one for the limelight, even now five years on, I have a hard time walking down the street and not be recognized. Pursuing the position as Minister would only compound that fact. A big part of me wishes to just lead a quiet life."

"Is that why you decided to come here?" Finn and Emily asked together. They all laughed.

"In part, but not the only reason." She didn't go on. The other reasons we personal, and she wasn't there yet with either of them.

"I am really looking forward to meeting the famous Mr. Potter." Emily said when it was clear Hermione wasn't going to share in more detail. "Even as a child all the way here in America we knew his name."

"Don't tell him that. He will hate it." Hermione laughed but got serous before going on. "Harry doesn't think of himself as a hero or the savior of our world. He is just a man, who was dealt a crappy hand in life. He feels he only did what any worthy man would have done given the opportunity to do so."

The three of them finished their meals and had a few more glasses of wine, before they got up to leave. Emily wouldn't allow them to pay, she said this meal was on MACUSA, as she was still working official to get to know Hermione better.

Emily had bid them both goodnight once they were back on Main Street and headed for the apparition point out of the magical street. By now all the shops were closed seeing as it was well past ten. The streetlamps blazed with a yellowish glow.

"Do you want me get you back to your apartment?" Finn asked once they were alone.

"No, I think I'll be alright." Hermione said she was a big girl and could take of herself all on her own. She had proved that all these years. She often thought it was what separated her from Helena or it was what she told herself anyways.

He led her over to the point of apparition point but turned to her before taking his leave. "Would you have dinner with me sometime? Just the two of us?" He asked hesitantly. He looked at her nervously as he waited for her answer.

"Like a date?"

"Yeah like a date if that's alright."

Her first instinct was to say no, but a little voice in the back of her head that sounded a lot like Ginny screamed at her to just do it. Take the risk. "Yes."

"Tomorrow evening?" He asked hopeful.

"Pick me up at the same time." Was her answer. He gave her a wide smile before bending to kiss her check. He pulled away and took step back.

"Till tomorrow then." He said before he was gone with a pop.

"Till tomorrow." Hermione whispered to the wind before she herself turned on the spot and was gone with a soft pop.

Author's Note: Hey guys! I know there was no Draco in this chapter…don't be too mad. I wanted to really introduce you to these two character's, we will see a lot of them in the chapter's to come. Next chapter though is all Draco! Hope you are enjoying this story so far, it's going to be a long ride. Please hit follow, and leave a review. Lots of love see you guys soon!


	5. Chapter 5

_You take up so much space inside of me._

_-Tyler Knott Gregson _

It was Sunday morning, and Hermione was still riding on cloud nine from her date with Finn the night before. He had taken her to a little Thai restaurant that wasn't too far from her apartment. He had remembered she loved all forms of Asian food from when she had mentioned it earlier on in the week. Finn was a good listener, was smart as a whip and incidentally a very good kisser, if the snog they had standing outside her door at the end of the date was any indication.

For the first time in a very long time, she found that she did indeed like someone, and she was curious to see where this something might go. She had promised Ginny to start living, and that was what she was doing. In all her years, and there was many of them she had never truly allowed herself to live. In past lives everything was centered around the curse, the curse that had plagued them for far too long. This time it was different though, she didn't fear her death, she knew in her soul that this would be the life that broke the curse. And if this was the only life she had left to live, well then, she needed to make the most of it.

Normally she wouldn't mix work and her private life, but Ginny might have been right when she had said Hermione's life could use a little office romance. Sure, she had dated plenty in the last five years but she never mixed business with pleasure, but she had to admit that it's a little thrilling.

He wanted to know all about her life growing up before she knew she was a witch. He wanted to know what it was like to be raise by No-maj's, and how her parents had handled having a witch for a daughter. She told him of how shocked they had been at first, but how their pride had shown through in the end. How they would make the most of her summer holiday's seeing as she had spent more time at school once she had started Hogwarts. How they always tried to keep her grounded in the Muggle world, so she was never disconnected from her roots. She told him about altering her parent's memory in the hopes of keeping them safe during the war. How she had managed to track them down when it was finished, and the process of restoring the memories of their daughter.

She shared with him, how the first couple years their relationship had been rocky. How her parents couldn't see how much danger they could have been in if the death eaters had found them. _"How could they not see you had done it out of love?" _He asked not understanding their cold treatment of their daughter. Things were better now between them, but still a far cry from the way they had been growing up.

She told him of her friendship between Ron and Harry. How Ron and she had tried to date early on after the war, but it hadn't worked out and nearly ended in a disaster. She told him that Harry was the brother she wishes she had. That it had been Harry who had taken her leaving the hardest. She suspected that a part of him felt abandoned by her decision to come here.

He told her more about his time at Ilvermorny and how he played on his house Quodpot team, Finn called it Quidditch on steroids. Hermione had been horrified to learn there was a sport more dangerous than Quidditch that school children were playing.

His sister Sarah who he was closest to worked as an Auror. He had shared that he had been horrified when she had been accepted into the program. Though he knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself, he was still her big brother and the idea of her going after dark Sorcerers scared him. His other sister worked for MACUSA but in a different department. What truly touched her was how even though he and his siblings were spread out every Sunday they would have dinner back in D.C. with their mom and dad. It reminded her of the Weasley's, and she couldn't help but smile as he told her about their family dynamic.

It had been a great first date, maybe even the best first date she had ever had. She couldn't help but feel the hope bubbling inside of her, or the desire to spend as much time with him as possible. It was all so new and exciting. Moreover, she couldn't wait to tell Ginny all about it. She would of course gloat and tell Hermione she had told her so, but hey what were friends for.

Seeing as it was Sunday and Finn was in D.C. for the day with his family, Hermione was enjoying a day of solitude walking around the MET a Muggle museum. She was still having a hard time wrapping her head around the separation between muggles and wizards in American but as she learned more of their history, she found herself more understanding.

She had come upon a picture that startled her from her thoughts as she wondered the gallery. It was a portrait of a young woman, that had been painted in 1720, in England. The card attached to the painting read 'Helena Eason, 1720. Painted by William Hogarth three months before the woman's untimely death in childbirth'

Hermione stared at Helena in shock, how had the Metropolitan museum of all places been able to get their hands on a portrait that she had long believed to be missing or destroyed.

"Beautiful isn't it?" She heard a man ask from behind her. She needn't turn to see the man; she knew from his scent it was Draco.

"How?" She asked her back still turned to him.

"I was able to track the painting down a few years ago. It's here on loan."

"Why though." Her voice held so much wonder

"I thought she was a beautiful woman; I still do, and I thought others should be able to appreciate her beauty." He had moved so he was now standing beside her, she had not yet been able to take her gaze from the painting. She could feel Helena as she gazed at her beautiful face, she really was a sight to behold. It wasn't hard to understand why Henry had been so easily attracted to the young witch.

"Do you come to look at it often?" She asked.

"No. I don't allow Henry control most days." Hermione could feel it was probably the most honest answer he could give her.

"Then, why are you here now?"

"Looking for you." He said as if this fact should be obvious, maybe it should have, but she still had a hard time believing that he could feel her every thought and mood.

She finally looked at him, he was still staring at the portrait, she could see the love written in his eyes. It was as if he was seeing her for the first time, as if no time had passed at all. "Well you have found me." She said after a moment, she looked away from him and back to the portrait.

"That I have." He held out his arm, as if to say let's move on. She did but didn't take his arm.

"How did you know I would be here? There are a million places I could be." Though she knew what his answer would be she asked anyways hoping to catch him in a lie.

"I told you, I can feel you." He said placing a hand over his heart. "I wanted to apologize for missing dinner the other night."

"Oh, it's fine. No need for an apology." She brushed off his apology.

"I was wondering if maybe I could make it up to you. I know this great little hot dog cart not far from here, I could buy you lunch." He smirked, it was something she hadn't seen in years and she found it odd that it brought her a little comfort.

"A hot dog?" She looked amused.

"I figured you wouldn't agree to a sit-down lunch, to formal. But maybe if we eat standing up, you wouldn't be so judgmental."

She was silent for a long while as they walked, the man standing beside her mesmerized Helena, who currently was having a hard time staying within the neat little box Hermione had created. Her good mood from the night before gone it had been easy to forget how much she would always be entangled with him, but now she was faced once again with who she truly was.

"It's just a hot dog, and maybe some ice cream if you are lucky." He smiled this time, and Hermione felt her heart slow for just a beat.

"Ok." She had been here all morning after all, and it wasn't like she wouldn't be able to come back. She did live in the city now after all.

Draco turned and headed for the door grabbing her hand in the process. She couldn't help but feel the licks of fire when their skin made contact. It had always been this way, the feeling too much to handle, she let go and put more space between them. They walked several blocks before they came to an entrance to central park, he motioned towards it, she nodded her head in agreement.

"Where is Emily today?" Hermione asked unable to take the silence.

"With her mother, picking out a wedding dress." He said putting his hand in his pockets to keep from reaching for her again.

"So, you set a date?" Hermione asked ignoring that small pang of hurt she felt.

"March 3." Was his somewhat clipped response.

"Finn had said you had been rather reluctant to do so." she pressed for more information unable to help herself.

"Well it is set now, and everyone can be happy." His tone was still brisk, and Hermione could tell this was a sore subject.

"Do you love her?" this question had been burning at the back of her mind all week.

"Yes."

"I just I haven't been able too...". She started to say but stopped herself.

"you haven't been able to allow yourself to love someone other than Henry." She didn't have to finish her thoughts; he could finish it for her.

"Yes."

"you have to turn her off completely." He said sadly.

"But she is a part of me, there are bits of her in everything I do. I don't know how to just turn her off."

"I would think that it would be easier for you, you say you've never been able to feel me, if there is no connection on your end, I would think that you could just turn her off."

"Is that what you did? You turned Henry off in your head?"

"For the most part yes."

They fell silent again, the leaves on the trees had started to turn, the shades of yellow and red were mesmerizing. Fall had always been Hermione's favorite part of the year.

"I do like her." She finally said

"What?" He asked, she had obviously startled him out of his own thoughts.

"Emily, I do like her. Last week you said that you could sense I wasn't sure about her."

"She is pretty amazing isn't she." He looked wistful, and very much a man in love.

"I can see why you feel the way you do." It pained her to admit it, but she could see why he had been able to fall for the bright ambitious young woman.

"And Finn?" He asked, did he know about their date?"

"I think I could really like him." If she would just allow herself to be free and open. It had been what all her relationships had lacked.

"If only you could allow yourself." It was as if he could read her mind, had it always been this way between them? Had he always been able to read her like a book?

"Yes."

He stopped walking and moved to sit on a nearby bench. "I need to know something." He said after she sat down next him.

"Did you mean what you said? Did you really mean it?" he looked sad, the happiness from just a moment ago was gone.

"I have said so many things Draco you need to be more specific."

"You don't want me, or more specifically Henry. You believe denying who we are will break the curse?"

"Yes." Helena was screaming insider her head, but she wouldn't listen to her now, not when she felt so strongly about what she had to do.

What had happened next, she had not been prepared for. She gasped, that little piece of her that she had always felt had been out of place, unable to fit neatly with the rest was gone, and finally she understood what he had been talking about. She could indeed feel him, feel Henry, she just didn't know it was him.

"Do you understand now?" he asked

She nodded her head, as she felt tears start prick at her eyes. "Yes."

"If you disconnect from her, she will no longer have control or influence over your thoughts and feelings."

"I will lose a piece of myself." She said stubbornly, for as much as she liked to say she wasn't like Helena she had relied on her, she had guided nearly all her choices since she was sixteen.

"But you will happier for it." There was such a sadness in his voice, she wanted to reach out and take his hand into her own. To comfort him, even though he was the one who was trying to comfort her.

"Will you help me?" She asked softly as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Find the thread that links you to her." He said gently. She did as he said, searching within herself the piece of cord that was her link to Helena. "When you find it, snap the cord in two."

In her mind eye she could see the cord her link to her one time self, and with one swift movement she snapped it. A sudden feeling of freedom washed over as if the thing that been holding her back all these years was finally gone. She dared to hope, something she hadn't been able to do since Helena had stirred from her slumber all those years ago.

"How do you feel?" He asked when she didn't say anything.

"Free."

"And happy." This wasn't a question; he would be the only person who could possibly understand what this new feeling was.

"How did you figure it out?"

"When I met Emily. She intrigued me, probably in much the same way that Finn does you. I knew though I would never allow myself an honest chance with her if Henry influenced my every thought and move."

"So, you found the cord and snapped it in two."

"Yes."

"Last week, though when you saw me."

"I'm not sure they are truly gone from us, not really. By closing them off from the rest of us though I think we can find some peace. Maybe even be friends, without this desire we couldn't even begin to explain to others."

Sitting beside her was a man she thought she knew, but now that Helena's presence in her every thought was gone, she realized she was only left with the memory's she had before the start of her sixth year. She of course knew of his part in the war, and the choices he was forced to make. She didn't know the man sitting in front of her, and she felt that was a shame. For the first time she truly thought Helena had nothing to do with that feeling.

"I do believe you owe me Ice Cream Mr. Malfoy."

"Hey, I said I would buy you a hot dog, the ice cream was a maybe." He laughed getting to his feet. "But I am a man of my word, so let's get that hot dog." He offered his arm, this time she took it. Maybe there was some hope for them yet.

_Authors' Note: What do you guys think so far? Hope you guys are enjoying this story as much as I am enjoying writing it. I don't think I thanked my awesome Beta in the last chapter, but you know who you are! Thanks for the support, and encouragement couldn't do it without you! If you guys like the story hit the follow button down below, leave a review and tell me what you think! Hoping to update again next week, but we a preparing for a hurricane so at this point it's anyone's guess! See you guys soon._


	6. Chapter 6

_"__I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and I could do anything I wanted." _

_-Jack Kerouac_

When Draco got home from his afternoon with Hermione, he found the apartment empty. Emily must still be with her Mother he thought as he walked into the kitchen and rummaged around for his bottle of Fire Whiskey to pour himself a glass. The one thing America didn't have was good Whiskey, the stuff they tried to pass off as top shelf was a horrible excuse for alcohol. Not being able to go without a decent glass of Ogden's was too much to bear so he started to have it delivered. Emily thought he was crazy, but she obviously didn't understand.

He took his glass and walked over to the large window off the sitting room and looked out over the city as the sun started to set and tried to keep the guilt from taking over. He still had so many secrets he kept, from Emily and from Hermione, from his mother and from the few friends he still had back home. No one knew who he truly was, only Hermione and there were things he still hadn't told her. Turning Henry off the first time had been easy, Hermione had been so certain in her choice which only broke his heart more, turning him off had turned the grief off. This time though it hadn't been that easy. Hermione's sudden appearance had awoken Henry yet again, something he hadn't been prepared for. He hadn't been ready to be bombarded with all those feelings once more. Not when he had been so uncertain about his true feelings for Emily. He hadn't lied to Hermione when he had told her that he loved his fiancé, he did. It wasn't the same though, he knew what true passion felt like, he knew what the fire someone else ignited in you felt like. Emily was passionate, and she was caring and loving all the things any man could hope to find, she could make Draco happy and she did but if there was a chance…

He had been able to tell that Hermione was unsure of her first decision to keep him at arm's length, he could spot a lonely person a mile away because at one time that had been him, and given their connection it was easy to see it in her. The part of him that was Henry was hoping that she had changed her mind, but she hadn't and he would be lying if he said that didn't feel like rejection all over again. The hurt he had felt before he had shown her how to turn them off only lead to the guilt he felt now.

Something he hadn't told Hermione when he had shown her the way was the eventual feeling of not feeling whole. She had been right to be scared, Henry and Helena were so very much a part of who they were, even if they were separate. She wouldn't feel it right away but with time she would, and she would know that he had held this simple truth from her, along with some many others. Emily deserved someone whole, someone who didn't have such a past, someone who was willing to share all of themselves with her. Someone like Finn. Hermione though had captured the poor man so similarly to the way he had captured Emily, and he was afraid that the poor guy didn't stand a chance. How could he, not when he knew what Finn was up against.

When he was able to put what Henry felt to the side and look at Hermione for who she was outside of Helena it was a wonder every man on this earth didn't fall at her feet. She was strong, and brilliant, and beautiful in a way that wasn't so obvious but breath taking all the same. The guilt took root, as he stood at the window and watched the busy city below, he loved Emily that he was sure of, more sure of than he was of most things. There was something else there and he couldn't put his finger on it just yet.

…..

Hermione's Sunday afternoon in the park was something to behold for sure. For the first time, she had been able to feel like she was getting to know him. She had long believed that she already knew the man, and she did. She knew Henry, but she didn't know Draco, and it was nice to spend the afternoon getting to know him better. Seeing the man that was carefully hidden behind the mask that rest of world got to see.

He had come to America as soon as he was allowed to leave England. Of course, he had to get through some red tape to be allowed to stay but had managed to prove he meant no harm to the American's. Once he had he started working on his company, and he had been able to build a rather solid business all thing considered. He supplied potions to all the major hospitals in North and South America. He employed over 100 staff, 50 of them were potion brewers. He was working on starting up a division for experimental potions, not everything was curable, and he wanted to change that. He had been in negotiations with MACUSA and the top two hospitals for months. It was his hopes that by the end of the year they would be able to launch the program.

When she had asked why he hadn't moved into the European market, he shrugged "I think my last name would hinder any good I might be able to do there." It was a shame he felt that way, she knew for a fact St. Mungo's had a hard time keeping up their supply of even the most common of potions. There wasn't enough potion brewers and no good company to be able to outsource too.

"Why not under a different name? They don't have to know it's you."

"And what happens when people figure out it is me?"

"Its just something to think really think about Draco," not wanting to make him uncomfortable she dropped the subject but promised herself she would talk to Kingsley about this in more detail.

He told her more about his relationship with Emily Chamberlin, how they had meet, and even how he had managed to propose to the witch. It seemed that he and Finn had been rather good friends for some time, having met through Emily. He didn't seem to worry about their past relationship. "Not many people end up with the person they dated in school." He had said to her question. Harry and Ginny did, so had Author and Molly. She didn't say this, he obviously knew the two better than she.

He admitted his reluctance to set a date was because of his past. He still had a hard time understanding how someone in Emily 's position could be so understanding to his checkered past.

Yes, she had learned a lot more about Draco Malfoy that afternoon, he was even a gentleman and asked that she allow him to walk her home. "I know you can take care of yourself, but it's a big city and you are still new here." She assured him it was not necessary but had allowed him to do it all the same.

"Do you have a cellphone?" He asked before he turned to leave when they had made it back her building unscathed.

"Yes."

He pulled a business card from his pocket. "It was nice getting to know you today, it's been a long time since someone from back home was here. Call me, if you ever want to get together. I promise I'll stop just showing up. Balls in your court." She took it with a small smile.

"Ok, I will." She said before watching him go.

When she got upstairs to her apartment, she had a package waiting for her. Inside was a bouquet of Lilly's with a card, the neat handwriting was familiar, it was Finn

Seeing as I have already had dinner, how about a coffee? I don't think I can wait till tomorrow morning to see you. Just scribble your answer on the back, it will send it straight to me.

Finn.

She smiled to herself, and quickly flipped it over to write yes.

...

That week flew by, between working on all the different proposals for the upcoming exchange programs and getting more Wizarding countries on board. Time seemed to just slip by. It didn't hurt that she had been able to spend almost every waking moment with Finn. In the morning they would meet for coffee before heading to the Woolworth building, they had lunch together every day expect for Wednesday whenever she slipped out to see Draco. And dined with Finn most nights before calling it a good evening.

Ginny had been thrilled whenever she called to fill her in on her new life in New York. The redhead couldn't wait to come to New York the following week with Harry to meet this mysterious man for herself.

It was Thursday which meant it was time for the two of them to head to Canada to meet with Minister Moore about the new Auror Army. Seeing as they were traveling aboard, they had to take a port key. Finn had agreed to meet Hermione at her apartment, so they could leave from there. The port Key would take them directly to the Canadian Wizarding headquarters. They were to meet with Minister Moore all day before retiring to the hotel Thomas had secured for them, Friday they would either be heading home or heading back into negotiations with the Canadians.

"Are you ready to go?" Finn asked when he walked into the door. He had become very familiar with her small apartment in the last week, most nights they had grabbed takeaway and brought it back here to eat.

"Yes." She said picking up her small overnight bag. Finn pulled out a small mirror and held it out to her, the moment she touched it she felt the familiar pool behind her navel.

Over the years she had learned to land more gracefully than her first experience at the Quidditch World Cup. Once they were both back on firm footing Finn pocketed the mirror and head towards the welcome desk. An annoyed looking wizard sat behind the desk "Finn Bishop and Hermione Granger, here to see Minister Moore."

"Take the lifts, his office on level five." The wizard said slipping them both visitor's badges. Taking the badges, they did as they were told. Finn lead the way seeing as he had been here on many occasions for various reasons. After having to wait for thirty minutes they were greeted by an aging wizard with a bald head. Hermione knew from her conversations with Kingsley that minister Moore was an old man set in his ways. He was of the opinion that everyone should be on their own. Even for years refusing to help a fellow country who had found themselves in a sticky situation.

"Come in, I do hope you didn't have to wait to long." Moore said as he ushered them over to the small couch. "My morning meeting ran a tad longer than planned."

"Not long." Hermione said lying.

"Great." He clapped his hand together "So down to business." He sat down opposite them in a large wing backed chair.

"Right. Have you had the opportunity to look over the information sent to you by my assistant?" Finn asked pulling the file concerning the new initiative from his bag and placing it on the table between them all.

"Briefly, I am a very busy man as you both should know." There was a bit of snark in his tone and Hermione could feel her anxiety rise. "You both serve your government loyally; you know that so much of a leader's day is taken up by the problems our individual communities are facing."

"Yes, and we are grateful you were able to find time in what I am sure is a very busy schedule to meet with us." Hermione said plastering a smile to her face. She was going to need all her years of experience to get through this meeting.

"So, tell me more about this proposed initiative," Moore said making himself comfortable in his arm chair.

"We want to form a wizards army." Finn said getting to the bottom line. "It is the feeling of many, that an army would beneficial if the time ever arrives that a country is faced with a dark wizard. Britain received no help from their allies during their last great Wizarding war. We want to change that."

"I see, and how would we Canadians fit into all of this?"

"By participating, sending Auror's if the times comes that the army is called upon." She had a feeling he knew this already. Moore was a lot of things, but he was never unprepared.

"So, you want us to send Auror's to fight potential dark wizards, even if the struggle does not concern Canadians directly?"

"I think we can all agree that a dark wizard could directly affect all of us." Hermione said, trying to keep her clipped tone under control. "When Lord Voldemort rose to power for the second time, we were dangerously close to catching the attention of the muggles."

"Yes, but that was in the United Kingdom. Not here, being an Auror is a dangerous job, how can I ask my own people to fight for a cause that won't affect them in the long term."

"If we are exposed it will affect all of us sir." It was Finn who tried to be the voice of reason. "The Canadian witch's and wizards only migrated here after the Salem witch trails. It was their fear of Persecution that led them here. Do you honestly think that just because a wizard is found out on the other side of the world that it won't affect you here? As it is the only reason our world is still a secret is because the No-Maj's find it easier to dismiss the things they cannot explain as superstition. To them the idea of magic really existing is too terrifying for them to even entertain."

Much of the day went on the same way. He would give a reason as to why he shouldn't agree to such a measure, and they would prove his point to be invalid. It had taken all day, but in the end though he agreed to bring the Canadians to the table for negotiations at the next conference, but he made no promises to officially sign onto the project. Hermione hoped that once he was there at the conference, the other leaders would push him till he signed on the dotted line.

By the time they left, they were both exhausted mentally, and starving. They had worked through lunch, just to keep the man talking. Since Finn was more familiar with the area having come on business before he led them to an amazing little bistro not far from their hotel.

"Keep the wine coming." He had told the waiter after he had taken their order.

"Well at least we don't have to go back tomorrow and listen to more of that buffoons' ridiculous excuses." Hermione said which earned her a chuckle from Finn.

"I can drink to that." He said raising his glass in the air before taking a long sip.

"Really the nerve of that man, to call my Ministry inept, I would love to see what he would do if put in the same situation."

"You know I met Fudge once, I was done with school before the war broke out and already working for MACUSA." He looked thought fully.

"That was a brilliant Segway." Hermione laughed.

"Well you have to admit that he was a bit inept." Finn said with an apologetic look on his face. He clearly didn't want to start over something like this.

"Yes, I can. But you always must understand what it was like. Before Voldemort came back to power most people who thought he was dead still feared even saying his name. To think that he was back and rising to power once more, well a lot of people didn't want to believe it."

"That year on the run, what was it like?" in the time that they had spent over the last week getting to know one another, he hadn't asked this. She could tell by some of their conversation's that he had wanted to but hadn't gotten the courage to.

Hermione thought a moment trying to put into words just what they had went through. "We were three teenagers barely of legal age, on the run from the ministry of magic, the very people that were meant to protect us. It was terrifying even at the best of times. We feared being discovered before we could finish what we had started out to do. We nearly were once, you know it was Malfoy who had saved us that night."

"He doesn't talk about his past." Finn said.

"I would imagine it's a time in his life he is proud of." She knew this of course; they had touched on the subject over coffee.

Her phone buzzed startling her for a moment. "Sorry." She said pulling it out she saw it was a message from Draco 'congratulations M said you managed to convince the old tosser.' She smiled and typed back a quickly reply. 'Still on for lunch on Sunday?' a few seconds later she had his reply 'yes, coffee tomorrow when you get back?' 'Yes' was her quick reply.

She put her phone away, knowing how annoyed she got when Harry or Ginny did this to her while they were out. "Sorry." She said again. "Where were?"

"No problem, who was it?" his curiosity rubbed her the wrong way for some reason, and she couldn't really put a finger on why exactly that was.

"Harry. Confirming details for his trip," she wasn't sure what made her lie, but something kept her from telling the truth, it was probably the same reason she was annoyed with his curiosity.

"I really can't wait to meet him." Finn said excitedly. Hermione smiled and tried to squash her annoyance and the guilt over her lie. The wine helped; the waiter had done what he had been instructed to do and had kept the wine flowing all evening. Seeing as they had both had too much to drink, they walked the few blocks back to the hotel. When they reached the door to her hotel room, he leaned down to kiss her, it wasn't the slow sweet kisses they had shared all week, this was full of passion and hunger. It ignited a fire within her she thought she might never feel again. Had she been in a more sober state of mind she might not have utter the last words they would speak aloud all night, but she wasn't, and she was tossing caution into the wind "why don't you come in for a while." He did, but they didn't do a whole lot of talking. In fact words didn't seem to matter anymore.


	7. Chapter 7

And then one day, there you were, shining brightly.

Showing me that I wasn't meant to stay in the dark.

JmStorm

Hermione groaned when she opened her eyes the following morning. Even in her very fuzzy state of mind she was able to register two things. One she was naked; two she was not alone. Memories of the previous night's events started to filter back into her brain. Because she was the over thinker she wondered if maybe she had rushed things, but before her brain could kick into full gear, Finn wrapped his arm around her tighter and pulled her close "we still have 30 minutes before we even need to think about getting up. I think I can hear your brain already over thinking things." He said mumbling into his pillow. She tired her best to settle back into the covers and into his arms, but her brain would not shut off. He could since his match and did the only thing he thought but make it stop. He kissed her more gently than he had the night before but with just has much passion. The kiss had done the trick because her brain immediately ceased working, they spent the next 30 minutes doing much the same as they had the night before only this time it wasn't rushed it was slow and spoke volumes even if no words were actually spoken.

Finally pulling themselves from the bed, Finn left to his own room to shower and change. He had to be back in New York by midmorning for a meeting with the head mistress of Ilvermorny, and he knew if he got her in the shower there would be no making it back on time. "Don't over think it." He had told her before kissing her again. "It changes nothing, I like you Hermione, and I want to see where this thing goes." He kissed her one last time, leaving her wanting more before leaving for his own room.

When he was gone, she remembered she had made coffee plans with Draco. She shot him a quick text telling him she would be back at ten, and did he want to meet her at ten thirty at the little shop not far from her apartment.

She slipped into the shower not waiting for his reply and enjoyed the hot water wash away yesterday's frustration, though Finn had done a very good job of doing just that already. She had not been with many men, though she had dated, often things got too far, of course she had Helena's memories of Henry, but she could tell that Finn was an experienced lover. She found herself wondering if he had thought she was inadequate, but she pushed the thought to the side. Dwelling on that fear would do her no good this morning.

Then there was her lie to Finn about Draco from the night before. Why had she lied, there was no real reason for it. So, they were becoming friends, so what? Was that really a big deal? They had known each other for years, even if you didn't account for Helena and Henry. Finn was friends with Draco, beside he and Emily were friends and they had dated. Could she even call Draco an ex-lover? Henry and Helena were, but Draco and Hermione weren't them. They had both had proven they were separate people from them, if they weren't, she didn't think they could have snapped the cord.

The bigger problem was Hermione was having a hard time separating her feeling from that of Helena's. Even with Helena put away, Hermione was acutely aware of how she felt, maybe a friendship with him wasn't a good idea, but it would only cause more problems, mudding the already muddied water that was their torrid past.

Pulling herself from these thoughts, and shelving whatever doubts she may have, she finished her shower before jumping out and getting dressed quickly. Though she had no plans of going into the office today, she still dressed in a cream pencil skirt, and navy blue blouse that had three quarter length sleeves and black pumps that Ginny said made her legs and ass look divine, she applied her normal light make-up and dried her hair so it fell into soft curls. She busied gathering her clothes that had been strewn all over the place last night in the heat of the moment, tossing everything into her small overnight bag.

It wasn't too much longer before there was a soft knock on the door, with a flick of her wand the door opened on its own, while she zipped up her bag. Finn walked in with his own bag in hand. "We ready to go?"

"Yes." Hermione breathed still unable to not blush when she looked at him. He gave her his secret smile before pulling out the same small mirror that they had used the day before as a port key.

Once again, she touched a finger to the mirror and felt the pull behind her navel. A few second later they were both standing in the same spot of her apartment they had been before they left. Tucking the mirror back into his pocket, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, she could truly forget the world when he kissed her like that. Reluctantly he pulled away, "If I don't hurry, I will be late for my meeting. Tonight?" He asked hopeful.

"Tonight." She replied.

The next Second he was gone with a loud pop. Looking over to the clock she saw that it was just now ten. Taking her bag to her room she dropped it on the bed, deciding she could put it away later when she got back from coffee and the grocery store. Moving around the small apartment she used her wand to tidy up the place. When the clock struck a quarter past the hour, she grabbed her coat from the rack and headed out the door. It was nearly mid-October, along with the color of the leaves changing, colder weather seemed to be setting in. Hermione didn't mind though; winter had always been her favorite time of the year.

…

When he had gotten her text that morning, he knew he was happier than he should be, but their exchange the night before had been short and had left him wanting more. Though they had talked nearly every day in the last week and had had lunch once he found himself wanting to be around her more than he should. He tried to tell himself that it was only because he was excited to have someone from England so close by. He did miss home from time to time, and her being here was like having a little piece of home. Then he realized this was of thinking was indeed a slippery slope and shut it down. He wanted to be around her, and he didn't know how to explain it, it wasn't Henry, no it Draco and this very notion scared him a bit, and did nothing for his guilt. Unable to stop himself he had left the office thirty minutes before he was due to meet her at the little shop, telling his assistant that he had an off the books meeting, and walking away before she could ask any more questions.

Ordering two coffee's he found a table towards the back of the little place, in case someone who might know him passed by, he didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea, and the last thing he wanted was for it to get back to Emily. She had enough to deal with, she didn't need to think that there was something going on between him and Hermione, because there wasn't.

"You are early." She said as she took the seat across from him.

"I know...I don't seem to desperate, do I?" He asked jokingly.

"Not at all." She smiled taking the coffee he offered her.

"You seem different." He said giving her an apprising once over.

"Do I?"

"Yes." He shook his head "So the trip was successful?"

"Yes, but it doesn't mean we didn't have to work for it. The old fool, really, I don't understand why he thinks he is so above everyone else. You should have heard the excuse he tried to use. And then he had the audacity to call our ministry inept."

He knew something must have crossed his face that looked like the regret he was feeling at her mention of the war because Hermione quickly realized her mistake. They both were aware that the Draco sitting in front her right now wasn't the same Draco who lived through the war, Henry or no Henry.

"They were Hermione, maybe not now, but then they were. It was their denial that made them blind, and in doing so, they gave him power."

"I'm sorry Draco, I didn't mean..." she stopped herself, he knew she was finding it hard to find the right thing to say, he made all the wrong choices after Hermione had made it clear that she wouldn't run away with him.

"You forgot who you were talking to. If I was who I am today then, I would have made different choices, but I wasn't. I have to live with that."

"Let's talk about something else." She said trying to change the mood. "War should never be discussed before lunch."

He laughed, which he suspected was what she had been hoping for. "Tell me about Finn." He said catching her by surprise.

"I think you know him better than I do." She said nervously. Could they really talk to about this?

"Probably do, but I don't know how you feel about him. I have it on good authority that you have spent quite a bit of time with him this week."

"He is unlike anyone I have ever met." She said a little breathless.

"Yeah he is one of a kind." There was that feeling again he had been feeling all week, the thing he couldn't put his finger on.

"I just I don't know..."

"You are scared." He didn't need Henry to know that look on her face, with the new feeling of freedom you find it hard not to be, how can you trust what you are feeling, now that he thought about it, could you trust it?

"How can you possibly know that?" she was suspicious of him, he wasn't surprised, and in all honesty, she had every right to be.

"We aren't so different from them you know, that right?" he asked, he thought she might need to hear this to be reminded of that small fact.

"I like to think we are."

"Then you are fooling yourself." His words sounded harsh, but she knew he didn't mean them to be. "They are a part of who we are, we are who we are because of them. I know you are scared, because Helena was just as scared when she fell in love with Henry. I was too when I met Emily probably for the same reasons that you are now."

"I think it's a little soon to be talking about love. I like him, but love." The smile that was at the corner of her lips told him that though she wasn't there, yet she could be, and that knowledge didn't sit well with him. He tried to remind himself of Emily, but the feeling wouldn't budge.

"How long have you feared not being able to love someone else?" when he looked closely here eyes gave it away.

"I'm still not sure that I can. I might not be able to tap into Helena's feeling anymore, but I felt what she felt. I loved him, I loved you." It was the first time she admitted this fact, and that she was doing so to him made him stop breathing for a just a moment. This was a big deal and he knew it.

"You have made your choice though."

"You know why I made it."

"You do know that just because you believe it will break the curse doesn't mean that it will." She needed to understand that just because she believed something didn't make it true. She needed to be prepared for the chance that she might be wrong about something.

"It has too." She said trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince him.

"You know I did love her, Cassandra. I was fine with the match my parents had made for me, until.." it was a change in subject to be sure but he needed her to know this for some reason.

"Helena."

"She was this cool summer breezes, that took hold of me. She was enchanting, and beautiful, and I had to have her."

"And she you." Her tone held a note of sadness, something he was all too familiar with.

"So here we are..." he looked away from her, not able to look at the sadness that marred her pretty face, he had seen it there too often and often at his own hand when they were younger, before he knew who he was, and before she knew.

"It was the summer before sixth year." This made him look up, her being here in New York was the first time that he had been able to be close to the one person who knew him best, or at the very least knew what he felt the best. This was a secret, something she had never shared with anyone else, and she was sharing it with him.

"When you knew?"

She nodded her head, "I woke up one morning, and everything was different. I had all these memory's that didn't belong to me, yet they did. I don't really remember the other lives we have lived, just our names, but I remember Helena so clearly. I could remember the first time I saw Henry, in that open field of lavender, where it grew wild. I could remember staring at you as if some unanswered prayer to Merlin had finally be answered. Could remember the first time you touched me. How my skin felt like it was on fire, how every part of me craved you. I could remember the feeling of falling in love with you. I could remember our life together, how it felt to die. Suddenly I knew it was you, you were Henry." As she spoke all the memory's she spoke of filled his mind. He could see them Helena and Henry, though he may be gone for now at least the memories were there, he could feel the way Henry felt about them, and once again it became hard to separate himself.

"Why didn't you choose us?" the question had been burning the tip of his tongue for so long.

"I just couldn't, we had become so entangled in something so much bigger than ourselves. Harry needed Hermione more than Henry needed Helena. Somewhere along the way I convinced myself, the only way it would stop is if I didn't choose you."

Their coffee had gone cold, he made a face when the cold bitterness touched his tongue. He waved a hand over his cup, when it was gone steam could be seen rising from it once again. "Only time will tell."

"Do have to get back to work?" She asked looking down at her watch, they had been sitting there for over an hour.

"I probably should, my assistant doesn't like it when I am out of the office for too long. It usually means some sort of crisis would unfold." Hermione laughed

"So, you can still do lunch on Sunday?" she asked with a note of hopefulness that did something to him that he still couldn't put a finger on.

"Yes, Emily will be elbow deep in wedding plans with her mother. I thankful just have to show up on the big day, my opinions and idea on everything else are not wanted or needed."

"Ok, one o'clock then? The hot dog cart in Central Park?" she smiled at this little detail that was theirs and theirs alone.

"Yes."

He stood, moved around the table and bent to kiss her check. It was a jester that suggested familiarity and even had certain level of intimacy. He didn't linger, but when he pulled away, his lips felt like they were on fire. In the future when he would look back to this moment, he would realize this moment was the beginning of the end of life as he knew it, he was just to blind to see it.


	8. Chapter 8

I can't control my smile when I'm with you.

The weekend seemed to fly by, before Hermione knew it was Monday morning. Finn had arrived Friday evening grocery bags in hand. That night he had made her an amazing home cooked meal, fired chicken, mac and cheese, biscuits (which were not cookies but rather a form of bread, and they had been amazing even if they did come from a can), and some steamed cabbage. He had called it soul food, Hermione didn't really care what it was called, it had been amazing. After dinner was done and the dishes had been cleared away, they had picked up where they had left off that morning. He was amazing when it came to the art form of knowing how to pleasure someone else, in tune to her wants and needs and when he was done, she wasn't wanting. Saturday, they pulled themselves from her bed and had ventured out into the city for breakfast and a hot steaming cup of coffee. Something they both needed to get the going in the mornings. As promised Finn had taken her back to Main Street where they had spent the late morning exploring the little street and all the shops it had to offer. He had been right, it was amazing, but she thought she might just still prefer Diagon Alley. She had spent hours in the little bookstore exploring the array of books offered. Even picking up a few on the great American history of witch's and wizards. All in all, it had been a great day.

He had left her apartment reluctantly that evening for his monthly poker game, not knowing how long the game might be he hadn't promised to return and seeing as his Sunday's were reserved for his family, she figured she wouldn't see him till Monday morning. Maybe Sunday night if she was lucky and he returned from D.C at a decent time.

At one pm on Sunday afternoon she met Draco in Central Park for lunch. Emily was in full planning mode for their upcoming wedding. Seeing as his opinions were not wanted or needed, he found it easy to escape. They spent the afternoon just enjoying the company of one another. He bought her another hotdog from the same stand they visited the week before, and even some ice cream from a stand that wasn't too far from the bench they had chosen near the zoo. They talked about school, and how their experiences had differed. He told her what it had been like living under his father's roof all those years, and how it had shaped him into the kid he was back then. He didn't blame his father for his behavior. He admitted he had known long before Henry's reappearance how wrong his belief system was. She herself had been the one who had made him take a good long look at the things he had always been taught growing up. She defied the logic; she was hands down the most powerful student in their year. When she confessed, she thought Helena might have something to do with that he brushed the idea off.

They broached the subject of her torture at the hands of his deranged aunt but didn't linger to long on the topic. The scars from that attack were finally starting to heal and she wasn't ready to rip the scab off just yet, not with him anyways. She had confessed to him; how hard it had been to stick to her decision where they were concerned after the war was over. Without the threat of war her resolve had been tested. That was when her string of failed relationships had started, first up had been Ron Weasley. That had lasted all of three months before it fizzled out, she told him about Oliver and how she had tried to make that work. She had wanted to make it work more than anything, but it hadn't, and she had broken the poor guys heart. The two things they didn't talk about, Finn and Emily. They both avoided the subjects, it was unspoken. She still felt that they might be mudding the waters but spending time with him filled her with something she couldn't really put a finger on.

Monday morning dawned early than she would have liked, and with it the impending arrival of Harry Potter. The atmosphere that morning at MACUSA had shifted. Even the normal cool and collected Emily Chamberlin seemed to be a bit on edge, his visit was a big deal and everyone within the walls of MACUSA knew it. Harry Potter would forever more be a symbol of hope and all the good things left in this world. As much as he might hate this fact, he knew it to be true. Even now he was hard pressed to venture out into wizarding Britain and not be stopped by a peer who wanted to say thank you. He had given up more than most.

At nine am on the dot, Harry Potter stepped through the fireplace in Hermione's office, suitcase in hand. He dropped the case to the floor, brushed to soot off his clothes and looked around the office until his eyes fell on Hermione.

Hermione jumped up and rushed to give her one of her oldest friends a hug. He caught her in a bear hug and spun her around before sitting her back on her feet. "Merlin, I have missed you." He said stepping back for a moment to get a good look at her. "Things haven't been the same since you left."

"Harry its only been a few weeks," she laughed as she moved back to her desk.

"You seem different." He said with a thoughtful look, he had been studying his best friends since he had walked out of the fireplace.

"Nothing's changed." She said nervously smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles from the black dress, uncomfortable with his quizzical gaze.

"That's not what Ginny says." He smirked at her, of course Ginny would have told him all about Finn. The two of them gossiped worse than two teenage girls.

"When will Ginny be coming?" she asked ignoring his bait for more information. He would meet Finn soon enough.

"End of week, we will spend the weekend here with you, before heading back to London."

"Well why don't we head down to the Auror department." Hermione said trying to get back her normal equilibrium. "Everyone is excited to meet the great Harry Potter."

He rolled his eyes "Fantastic." He said sarcastically.

She moved towards the door but stopped in her tracks. Deciding now would be the best time to tell Harry about Draco. "You should know, Draco Malfoy has been living here since the end of the war."

He didn't look surprised at this. "I know." She gave him a questioning look. "We keep track of everyone who was involved with the Death Eaters, Hermione. Congress also keeps us up to date on his movements here."

"Do you also know that he is engaged to be married to Vice President Chamberlin?" Again, this didn't surprise him.

"Like I said congress keeps us up to date on his movements. It caused a big shock wave when the news of the engagement hit the news here."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" she felt a little hurt that her friend wouldn't have shared this information with her. She knew she was being silly, but she couldn't shake it.

"I didn't think it mattered. You weren't Malfoy's biggest fan, nor were you his. Besides I don't like idle gossip."

"Unless it's with Ginny." He had the decency to blush.

"That is different, and you know it." He said trying to defend himself.

Not happy with the answer she thought it would be best to drop it. "Why don't we head down. They have a full day of meeting scheduled for you."

He was greeted with great fan fair down in the Auror department, to his great displeasure. Even after all these years, he still had a hard time coming to terms with his fame. It was short to his relief and they were able to get down to business. Marcus Palmer who was head of the department took Harry through the everyday ins and outs of the department, went over procedure protocols, before diving into the first of their scheduled meetings.

It was after five before Hermione saw Harry again. Most of that day's meetings had nothing to do with her, she and Finn had already drawn up details for the program, but it was down to Palmer and Harry to make the final decisions seeing as they were head of departments. He looked exhausted when plopped down in the chair in front of her desk.

"Time difference taking a toll?" she asked trying not to laugh. It had been him after all who had wanted to wait till Monday morning to make the journey from England.

"All I want is food and a bed."

"Well lucky for you I can provided those for you. Although it's a couch not a bed, but with a little magic I am sure we can make it comfortable."

"And when do I get to meet this bloke of yours?"

"His name is Finn, Harry." She turned in her serious voice. "I thought maybe he could come over for dinner, if you are up to it."

"Sure, why not."

Hermione smiled and started to gather all the files on her desk into neat little piles, before sending a note off to Finn with the invitation to dinner. "Do you want to take the subway?"

"You know I am sucker for trains Hermione."

"Then let's go."

It was half past six when Finn arrived, takeout in hand. Hermione could tell by the way his eyes light up that Finn was a little overly excited to be meeting Harry Potter for the first time and just hoped he didn't go overboard. It would annoy Harry and she would never hear the end of it. Her past boyfriends had all known Harry personally long before she ever dated them. This would be a first, "Finn this is Harry. Harry this is Finn."

"So, you are the bloke that has caught our Hermione's attention?" Hermione wanted to smack her friend upside down his head for that one. Our Hermione?

"I guess I have." Finn said nervously he held out his hand to her friend who took it and gave it a firm shake. "May I just say that it is a pleasure to meet you. Hermione has told me so much about you, I feel as if I already know you."

"Don't believe half of what she says Finn." He laughed and so did Finn "Hermione here I fear has always held me in higher regard than I actually deserve."

"You Harry James Potter don't give yourself enough credit." Hermione countered.

"Whatever you say, so is that Chinese I smell in that bag?" Harry asked pointing to the bag still in Finn's hand.

Finn looked down at for a moment, forgetting what he was there for, besides meeting the great Harry Potter. "Yes. Hermione said it was your favorite."

"Sucking up I see; I should warn you though Finn my opinion means very little to Hermione." Finn gave a nervous laugh and Hermione groaned. Yes, it would be a very long night.

To her great relief it hadn't turned out so bad. Harry did tease Finn some more, but it was done all in good fun and Finn didn't seem to mind so much. The two men seemed to hit it off well, which Hermione was grateful for. No matter what Harry might think she did value his opinion, he was the brother she never had. She didn't need to worry though, because it seemed Finn was charming her best friend, the same way he had managed to charm her.

At nine Finn stood to leave, seeing the exhausted look on Harry's face he took this as his cue to leave for the evening. Beside they would be in meetings together all day tomorrow and still had the rest of the week. After the two men said goodnight to one another Hermione walked Finn downstairs so they could say goodnight in private, well at least without Harry in the room.

"He is everything you said he would be." Finn said when the reached the bottom of the stairs.

"He is pretty awesome, isn't he?" she said as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

"I think I still like you better though." He pressed his lips to hers in a sweet soft kiss that left her lips tingling and wanting more.

"I am going to miss you." She said when he pulled away, but only so he could trail kisses from her lips to her ear.

"I think I might just miss you a little more." He whispered in her ear.

"I could always sneak out after Harry falls asleep."

"Ms. Granger don't tease me." He wore a grin.

"Thirty minutes tops." She pulled out of his arm but not before planting a linger kiss on his lips. "Wait for me?" she asked. He nodded, she turned on her heels and made her way back up to her apartment. Damn that man.

Author's note: Short chapter, don't hate me. But to make it up to my readers this week I will post two chapter's. Hope you guys are enjoying this story, I know it is a slow burn so thank you for sticking with me.


	9. Chapter 9

_Sometimes you just need to talk about something. Not to get sympathy or help, but just to kill its power by allowing the truth of things to hit the air._

_Karen Salmansohn _

Harry was already asleep when she made it back up to her apartment, she smiled to herself while she tossed the thing's she would need into a small over night bag. Leaving a note for Harry in case he woke "I'll see you in the morning. I trust you can find your way to Woolworth building. H"

Finn was still waiting down stair for her when she got back to the entrance of the building. She gave him a smile before taking his hand and allowing him to lead the way.

They had kept each other up for hours, making up for the time they had lost over the weekend. The following morning after only a few hours of sleep Finn pulled himself from her warm embrace, he had an early meeting at the office. Not wanting to disturb, her he made his way as quietly as possible around the room to get ready for the day ahead. Before leaving he gave her sleeping form one final longing look before he was gone with a soft pop.

Hermione awoke to her phone buzzing, she registered she was alone in bed before she rolled over to look at the messages on phone. One from Harry, who said he would see her soon, and two from Draco who wanted to know if she had time for coffee this morning before heading into the office. She looked over at the time to see it was only six thirty before sending a reply to him. She got up quickly and was able to shower and get dressed within thirty minutes. At seven she was out the door of Finn's apartment; she muttered a locking charm on the door before she headed for the lift. His building wasn't far from her own, and somewhere in between her place and congress. Once she was outside in the early morning sunlight, she ducked down a small alley a few doors down where she turned on the spot.

It was seven fifteen when she made her way into the small coffee shop that she now referred to as theirs. He was already sitting at a table near the back with two mugs for steaming liquid in front of him.

"You went behind my back to Kingsley." He said in angry tone when she sat down at the table and took one of the two mugs. In a clenched fist he had what she knew to be an official Ministry of Magic letter.

"Yes." She was calm, calmer than she felt under his angry glare.

"Why?" his anger was slowly ebbing away, but she could still the see the lines around his eyes.

"Because, I think that the service your company provides would be beneficial to Britain." She wouldn't apologize for this. She was pretty sure that in the long run he would even thank her for it.

"I told you why I didn't want to do it." He was defiantly losing his steam, but she knew he was still mad, the set of his jaw told her as much. "You know what most people still think of me back home."

"Which will never change if you don't do something about it." She was going to be her stubborn self on this one. "Look Draco, I know that you aren't that person anymore. I can see the way you have changed and all the good you are doing. Why can't you let everyone else see that?"

"Maybe because I deserve it." She wanted to roll her eyes at this comment but reframed, decided instead to move on.

"What did the letter say?"

"He wants me to come to England to discuss what I might be able to do for the English community." She could hear the uncertainty in his tone.

"Well are you going to go?"

"Emily thinks I should." This wasn't an answer and he knew it when she narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't know, a part of me wants to."

"Then schedule a meeting and go. You don't have to agree to anything, its just a meeting." From the corner of her eyes she could see a head of black unruly hair heading their way. Her heart sank, how could she possibly forget Harry couldn't go without his morning fix of coffee and that they were right around the corner from her building and on the way to the subway.

"Hermione." Draco's head shot up at the sound of Harry's voice. It seemed that she had been the only one to see Harry before his approach.

"Potter." Draco said in what Hermione could tell was an attempt at being polite though he didn't really pull it off. Old habits die hard she thought.

"What are you doing here." Harry asked, he ignored Malfoy altogether and was looking at Hermione as if she had grown a second head.

"I have better go." Draco said getting to his feet, taking his coffee with him. "I'll see you around Granger." He slipped past Harry who didn't seem to care.

Harry took the seat that Draco had just left. "Why were you having coffee with Draco Malfoy of all people this early in the morning?"

"We are friends."

"And you didn't think to mention that yesterday when you were giving me the third degree about not telling you that I knew he lived in the states."

"It's new Harry, what can I say." she didn't like the way he was looking at her, as if he was able to see right through her. "He is a different person than he was back then."

"I know that, I just don't understand why you thought you needed to keep it from me."

"I wasn't keeping it from you on purpose, I just hadn't gotten around to mentioning it." He didn't really seem like he believed her, but he would allow the subject to drop for the time being.

"It is too early in the morning, I need coffee." He said standing and making his way over to the counter.

Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure why she hadn't told him yesterday about Draco. She had been the one to bring the subject up in the first place. Now that things were different why couldn't she tell Harry that they had developed a friendship.

'Because he is your secret.' Her mind whispered to herself. He was her secret; she didn't want anyone to know the truth. Even though things were now different and they both clearly stood on their own, she still wanted to keep him to herself. She supposed that was why she hadn't told Finn about him either. In all honest why would Finn even care if they were friends, he himself was friends with Draco and had been for a few years now. Finn knew that they had gone to school together, it wouldn't be weird if now they had developed a friendship. There was nothing weird about it all, she was the one that was making things weird. She was afraid that people would suspect more, which was silly because no one knew about the curse or what linked them together.

Harry came back to the table with a cup of coffee in hand and set back down. "So, tell me why you were meeting with Draco Malfoy of all people this early in the morning."

"You probably know about his potions business, right?" when he nodded his head to say yes, she went on "He had thought about expanding, but he was unsure of how well it would go over back home. So, I gave him a little push and sent Kingsley a message."

"Let me guess, he wasn't happy about being Grangered."

"What?"

"Being Grangered, it is what me and Ron call it when you step in even though no one asked you too." He laughed at the look on her face. "Oh, come on don't look at me that way. You know you do it all the time."

"I do not." She said in her stubborn tone.

"Hermione, please yes you do. Whenever someone has a problem, you are usually the one who steps in to fix said problem weather they have asked you to or not. Its your thing, we all love you for it."

"I did not Granger him."

"Yes, you did. He'll probably even thank you for it later. Look it getting close to eight and we better get our behinds to work before they send out a search party."

"They don't care about you that much." Hermione said with a laugh.

"No one wants the Great Harry Potter to go missing on their watch. Imagine the international incident that would cause." She knew he was only joking but she still punched his arm when he offered it to her.

Thursday morning Emily Chamberlin had cornered Hermione and Harry in her office to ask them to lunch. She had been held up in negotiations all week with the Canadian government and hadn't had a chance to get to know Harry. She thought she might be able to remedy this by taking them to lunch. Not taking no for an answer the two of them found themselves sitting across from Emily and Draco at one pm. Finn had been able to worm his way out of this was claiming he had an important meeting; which Hermione knew to be untrue. He would pay for that later; she would make sure of it.

"So, Harry, Draco here tells me that the two of you didn't really see eye to eye with one another back at Hogwarts." Emily said after the waiter had brought their drinks and taken their order. Hermione could tell that Draco was still mad her for interference with Kingsley and was not all pleased at being roped into lunch. It seemed as if Emily was ignorant to this or didn't really care.

Harry laughed nervously. "Yeah you could say that."

"Emily, I don't think any of us want to relive our school days simply for your amusement." Draco said before taking a sip of his drink. He looked over at Hermione for just a little to long and had caught Harry's attention.

"Fine, I won't ask about school. Tell me what its like being an Auror in England."

"Not nearly as exciting as it was back in the day." Harry said with a grin. "Not that we don't still have our hands full. The department still monitors most of the old wizarding families who had a hard time adjusting to the new way of life." Hermione knew this was a dig at Draco and kicked him under the table. "All in all, though it's a pretty awesome job."

"You are married, aren't you?" Emily asked truly oblivious to what was going on around her.

"Yes."

"Hogwarts sweetheart, ah Potter." Draco pipped up.

"Yes, I believe you probably remember her Malfoy. Ginny Weasley, well its Potter now."

"Isn't that sweet." Emily said. "So lucky to have found one's true love at such a young age."

"You act as if you much older than us." Hermione said with a laugh "Just a few years, not by much."

"I have been out of school for ten years now." Emily said with a grin. "I still can't believe it has been that long."

When their food had come, they fell into what could only be described as an awkward silence as they ate. Emily tried to carry the conversation, but even she was starting to feel just how truly awkward this lunch had become. Too often Hermione could feel Draco's eyes linger on her, and she knew Harry could see it. She wished that he would stop. He was drawing the attention of the last person Hermione wanted sniffing around what it could possibly mean.

When the check came Draco insisted on paying knowing that Harry would hate it. Emily and Draco didn't linger too long once the bill was paid, they had an afternoon appointment for a possible venue for the wedding. Once they we gone Harry turned to Hermione with a questioning look.

"I feel like there is something you aren't telling me about Malfoy." There was a look of betrayal in his eyes.

"Don't be silly." Hermione said trying to play it off.

"Do you and Malfoy have something going on? The way he looked at you."

"Don't read to much into anything Harry. He and I are just friends."

"He looked at you as if he was looking at a lover Hermione."

"Harry…." The moment she had feared for the last seven years was finally here and there was no stopping it. She had been able to hide the truth from Harry. She wouldn't be able to lie to him though. "I want to show you something." She said finally.

Thirty minutes later they found themselves sitting in front of the portrait of Helena and for the first time she was telling someone else about Helena and Henry. How they had met in 1719 on a mid-spring morning. How Helena had fallen in love with him, everything that had happened between two lovers over the last four hundred years. How she had chosen to stick by Harry's side in the war, she had chosen friendship and family over love. He had been silent through it all, not stopping her to ask questions, that she probably didn't have the answers too. He listened while she told him about running into Draco here, how he had shown her the way to turn off the connection between them. Their friendship, and how she had been unable to tell Finn. She bared her soul to her best friend while they stared at a woman who had been long dead, but still lived on in her.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" He asked when she was done with her story.

"I don't know what good it would have done. It wouldn't change anything. I, Hermione made a choice a long time ago."

"But you did it for me." He said.

"I did it for a lot of reasons Harry not just for you. More importantly I did it for myself."

"What about Finn?"

"I really like him Harry." She said with a sad smile.

"But…"

"There is no buts. I really like him, and I want to see where this thing with him goes. Me and Draco, its never going to happen. I promised myself."

"He looks at you as if you are the purest form of magic Hermione. I don't see how you don't see that." He sounded sad for her.

"Do you believe in soulmates Harry." She asked turning to look at her oldest friend.

"I think Ginny is my soulmate."

"I think Draco thinks we are soulmates." She mused, turning back to the portrait.

"Yet he is marrying the most powerful witch in America." Harry shook his head.

"It's complicated."

"It doesn't have to be. Love conquers all."

"I don't believe that anymore Harry. I wish I did, but I don't."

"So, you will settle?" the question was harsh, and he meant it to be. "I have never known Hermione Granger to settle for anything."

"I am not settling Harry." The idea of settling made her heart hurt in a way that it hadn't in years. "I think I could really see myself with Finn, he makes me happy."

"Does he complete you?" he of course would throw this out there.

"I can complete myself all on my own Harry. I don't need a man to do it for me."

"I know that Hermione, I think everyone knows that about you. My point is does he make everything better?"

"Yes…" she hesitated a little to long. "Please don't tell Ginny about this."

"Why not?"

"She won't understand my choice." She said sadly.

"Your secret is safe with me." Harry said putting an arm around her, she leaned into him and placed her head on his shoulder. It felt nice to have someone else finally know, but she wasn't ready for everyone else in her life to know. How could they ever understand.

Author's Note: Finally someone else knows. Tell me what you think, if you haven't already hit the follow button to keep track of this ride till the end. Till next week.


	10. Chapter 10

_You can't go back and change the beg_inning, but you_ can start where you are and change the ending._

_C.S. Lewis _

It was nearly seven when Harry and Hermione finally got back to her apartment. Finn was already there, in the kitchen cooking dinner. His way of making it up to Hermione for not going to lunch with Emily. She thought this was a sly move all things considered.

"Where have you two been?" he asked when they came through the door. "I didn't see you come back from lunch." He took a pot off the boil and strained the pasta he had made from the hot water before placing it into a large serving dish.

"I took Harry to the Met." Hermione said giving Harry a meaningful look before hanging her purse and coat on the rack.

"I take it lunch didn't go well?" Finn asked coming out of the kitchen and kissing her cheek.

"I think we have sat through worse Harry, don't you?"

"What?" he looked a little sheepish having not been paying attention to what was going on. "Oh yes…much worse."

"I didn't think it would go as well as Em thought it would. Hope you can forgive me for not wanting a front row seat for that car crash."

"If dinner is as good as it smells than all will be forgiven." Hermione said moving into the kitchen to see what was on the stove. He really was a good cook Hermione thought when she pulled the lid off the pot of sauce that was still simmering. "I'll set the table; Harry why don't you go get changed."

She watched her friend go before pulling out the plates and bowls from the cabinet. She felt strong arms wrap around her waist, she melted into them trying to push her conversation with Harry to the back of her mind. She had forgotten that Finn would be over for dinner again, she just hoped that Harry would be able to keep it together for the rest of evening.

"So how bad was lunch?" he asked as he trailed kisses down her neck to her collarbone.

"Well about as good as one could hope for all things considered. I mean she had to have known how the two of them feel about another. I know they are different people now, especially Draco, but somethings will never change, the way those two feel about each other is one of them."

"Well at least everyone came out in one piece and no blood or wands were drawn." This was one of the things that she liked about Finn; you could always count on him too look at the bright side.

Harry came back into the room and cleared his throat, the two of them pulled apart and Hermione got busy setting the table for dinner, while Finn took the remaining pot off the stove and made his way over to the table. "Hope everyone likes Italian."

Dinner turned out to be just as good as it smelled. Harry joked about Ron finding out how good of a cook Finn was. "I think Ron would try and steal him from you Hermione. You know Luna can't cook; he is always sneaking off to his parents for a good old home cooked meal from his mother."

As dinner wore on, they were both able to forget the conversation that had sitting in the Met that day. It seemed that Harry's trip had been a successful one, tomorrow they would be signing the finally deal for the exchange program in the morning. By this time next month each department would have new face among their ranks. Hermione was proud of the work she had gotten done while here, this program she hoped would be the first in a long line that would bring the country's closer than ever before. It was nice to know that Britain finally had an ally across the pond.

"Harry how did you like the Met?" Finn asked when talks of the new partnership drifted.

"It was nice, I have never been one for museums. But I know how much Hermione loves them."

"Did you know there is a portrait of a witch hanging there?" Finn asked. Hermione nearly choke on her wine at this.

"What?" she nearly spit her wine out, trying to speak.

"Come on, you have to know the legend of Helena Eason."

"Helena who?" leave it to Harry to be the calm and collected one in all of this.

"Eason, I can't believe you two don't know this. I mean she was from England herself." Finn said oblivious to the near heart attack Hermione was having.

"We are both still pretty new to this world, we didn't grow up on old wizarding folklore." Hermione said trying to regain her composure.

"The story goes like this. Once upon a time there was a wizard by the name of Henry. He was a powerful pure blood who was set to marry a young woman named Cassandra from the neighboring village. That was until he met Helena, Cassandra's lady in waiting. Helena was beautiful, and Henry couldn't help falling in love with her. The match was undesirable of course she was the daughter of a poor wizard, and a muggle woman. Her blood alone made the match impossible and then when one took her station in life into account. Henry didn't care though; on the day of his wedding he and Helena ran away together. He took her as his bride instead leaving, Cassandra heartbroken and shamed. Cassandra was a powerful witch though; she used her blood to curse them for eternity. The legend is, even though they are both long dead their souls still live on. Always so close, yet still so far away from finding true peace."

"That is some story." Harry said, now hearing it for the second time today. "Does legend say how the curse can be broken?" Hermione thought his voice held just the right amount of curiosity.

"Only the one with the Horned Serpents blood will be able to break the curse."

"The Horned Serpent? Like the Ilvermorny house?" Hermione asked.

"Don't know. Its just part of the legend. A few years ago, the painting appeared at the Met. No one knows how it got there, but we had all heard the story growing up. It is rumored that Cassandra moved here with her eventual husband at some point. But no one really knows, it is just a cautionary tale."

"To not take what isn't yours?" Harry asked.

"To be careful of who you fall in love with, I think. Cassandra loved Henry, though it was an arranged marriage they had known each other since childhood. One day someone swoops in and catch's his eye, and she is left heart broken, she acted out of grief, and in doing so she destroyed not only her life but that of two people whose only crime was falling in love. Which I think most people can all agree, sometimes you have no control over."

"That's a sad story." Harry said looking to Hermione who had been very quiet.

"Well its just legend, no one really knows if its true or not." Finn said looking over to Hermione who had the look of a deer caught in the headlights. "Are you ok?" he asked.

Shaking her head, she seemed to snap out of it. "Yes, sorry. I can't even imagine how horrible that would be. Stuck searching for the one you loved for centuries."

With the dinner conversation coming to a crashing halt Hermione stood and started clearing the dishes from the table. Harry stood quickly and helped giving her a meaningful look. He was there in silent support, which she was grateful for. Finn who seemed unaware of the shift in Hermione's mood helped, flicking his wand in the direction of the sink where the pots already sat, they began to wash themselves all on their own. It took no time at all before the kitchen was clean and everything neatly put away in its rightful place.

Harry excused himself to the restroom to get ready for bed. "Do you think Harry will mind if I stay tonight?" he asked once they were alone.

"No, its not like he doesn't know where I go when I disappear in the middle of the night anyways." Hermione said leaning into him. She wanted any thoughts of Helena and Henry pushed to the farthest reaches of her mind. Everything Finn had just told them had changed the way she saw her future, or futures. They wouldn't be able to break this curse all on their own.

"Good." Finn said as he inhaled her rosy sent.

Her thoughts drifted to Draco and she wondered if he knew the legend. He was friends with Finn after all. It was a reasonable conclusion to think that he did. If he did why had he not told her? When Harry came out of the bathroom, they both wished him a goodnight before retiring into her room, with the door firmly closed behind them. That night she allowed him to kiss all the bad thoughts and memories away.

Hermione wasn't sure when she would be able to see Draco again and confront him about what he knew and didn't know about the legend of Helena and Henry. He had back to back out of town meetings with various hospitals and with Ginny's arrival it made it impossible for her to slip way. Finn helped keep the Potter's busy over the weekend, he introduced them Quodpot by taking them all to a game. Hermione was horrified, the Potter's loved it.

The two couples took a stroll down Fifth Ave, Ginny had been especially excited to see all the Muggle designers that Hermione had always referred too. Harry had a hell of time pulling her away from the window displays at Tiffany's, which made Finn and Hermione double over in laughter. Saturday afternoon they headed over to Main Street, Hermione wanted to explore more of the street and wanted to make sure Harry and Ginny got to see it before they headed back to London.

It was decided they would enjoy dinner on Main Street at the French Bistro that was close to the entrance from the No-Maj's world. Hermione had seen it on her first two excursions down Main Street, and Finn had raved about the food. With temperatures dropping as the sunset they asked to be inside in the warmth, but immediately regretted the choice when they saw who was already seated inside.

Not two seconds after they stepped in the door, did Hermione see Emily Chamberlin standing and waving to them from their table. Draco beside her looked grumpy and annoyed. The look on Harry's face wasn't much different, and Ginny who had no clue as to what was really going on here in the States was shocked to see Draco 'Ferret' Malfoy sitting with the woman she clearly knew was Vice President. "Looks like you get a front row seats to the car crash, after all." Hermione said turning to whisper in Finn's ear. He groaned "Do you think, it will just be a hello, how are you. Or is she going to make us sit with them."

"Oh, we will be sitting with them, that is for sure." Finn heard Harry groan, causing him to crack a smile.

Sure, enough Emily was already ushering the waitstaff to add another table so the four newcomers would be able to sit with them. Only Emily looked happy about this.

"You must be Ginny." Emily said with a big smile once they were all seated. "Hermione has told me so much about you."

"That would be me." Ginny said while she eyed Draco who had an arm slung over the back of Emily's chair.

"It is such a pleasure to meet you. I saw you on the cover of Draco's Quidditch Weekly last month. You play for the Harley Head Harpies."

"Going on three years now." Ginny said with a huge smile.

"What's it like playing professionally? I have always been a big fan of the sport, even though it isn't as popular here in the states as it is overseas."

"It's a dream job for sure. I grew up playing the game with my older brother's. It's kind of nice being the only one of the seven kids to play it in the big leagues. Charlie could have if he had wanted too but he preferred dragons."

"Well you were always the best of the bunch Red." Draco said in his deep draw.

Ginny gave him a questioning look before saying "Thanks ferret I think."

"Ferret?" Emily and Finn asked at the same time looking between all the Hogwarts alum.

For the first time since they had entered the restaurant Harry smiled, as he told the story about the time the imposter Mad Eye Moody had turned Draco Malfoy into a bouncing ferret. Emily and Finn both laughed hysterically, as they imagined the always well put together Draco bouncing around as a ferret. The story was what defiantly broke the ice, dinner seemed to go a lot smoother than their disastrous lunch. Even Draco who had joined in on the conversation, as oppose to letting Emily take the lead. Hermione wondered what their younger selves would have made of it, if they could see them all sitting around the table in what could only be described as peace.

Hermione excused herself halfway through dinner to use the restroom, needing to escape for a moment to catch her breath. Her thoughts were straying to the new information Finn had shared with her and Harry. She still couldn't help but wonder if Draco had known and was keeping it from her. The thought that he might be hurt. She thought they had come a long way, and yet maybe they hadn't. She splashed cold water on her face trying to push it all to the side so she at the very least could get through this dinner, and the rest of Harry and Ginny's trip. She could worry about the rest of it Monday once they were gone, and everything was back to her new normal.

When she opened the door to return to the table strong arms were pushing her back into the lady's restroom. Looking up she saw Draco standing in front of her waving his hand towards the knob, locking it with a wandless spell.

"You have been silent most of the night." He said leaning against the now locked door.

"My mind has been elsewhere." She said not giving much away.

"If I am not mistaken, you told Potter. I can tell by the way he has been eyeing me all night." He didn't sound mad, just curious. It had always been an unspoken rule of theirs never to tell anyone who they really were.

"He could see the way you were looking at me at lunch. I couldn't lie to him."

"Does Red know?" this was a reasonable question.

"No." it was something about the way he just casually leaned against the door without a care in the world that irked her. "Do you know about the legend the American's tell?" the look of surprise that crossed his features before the mask of indifference fell back into place told her what she had already suspected. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I am not even sure if its true. I mean, we have lived four hundred years and have never heard it."

"We have never lived here." She countered.

"I didn't want to worry you. Beside its not like you knowing changes anything."

"It changes everything Draco. Simply denying who we are isn't going to break the curse. Someone must break it for us. Someone out there has the power to release us from it." Something crossed his face, that she couldn't put her finger on. And then it all clicked into place. The one with the blood of the Horned Serpent. "You think you know who it is."

"Yes." He said pushing off from the door and coming to stand directly in front of her. He pushed the stray curl that had fallen from her bun, so it now rested behind her ear. "I think you do too." He looked deep into her eyes searching for something she wasn't sure he would find.

"Emily." She said softly. It would make sense, if she were to be a descendant of Cassandra's. It would be rather poetic. "Is that why?" she couldn't bring herself to ask the question that was burning at the tip of her tongue.

"No, I had already been with Emily for months, and had already asked her to marry me before I knew of the legend the American's tell of the two poor souls. It wasn't till the portrait appeared did I learn from Finn about it. Apparently, there is a wizard who works at the Met, his soul purpose is to make sure that no magical artifact falls into the hands of the No-Maj's. It was the talk of the town when the portrait showed up for viewing."

"Maybe we are playing with fire."

A look of fear crossed through the deep grey depths of his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"We are dangerously close to the line." He took a step back from her and put his hands in his pockets.

"I don't plan on changing my mind about her, and I don't plan on trying to change yours. We are who we are, but life is a little more bearable with you in it. You knowing doesn't change anything. I still love her, it's fitting don't you think. I would fall for the one person who could free us from this."

"We should get back." Hermione said tearing her gaze from him. "I'll go first." He didn't say anything just let her move to the door which she unlocked with another wandless spell before slipping out. The whole thing was bittersweet, it was so very poetic that after all these years he would end up married to the great many times over granddaughter of Cassandra Thomas the woman they had taken everything from, and in return she had taken their happiness.

Authors Notes: Thanks for all the love guys, it really means a lot. Hope you guys liked this chapter, we started to learn a little more about this curse that has our favorite couple so entangled. If you feel so moved leave me a comment and tell me what you think of what was just reveled. Till next week guys!


	11. Chapter 11

"Burdens are for shoulders strong enough to carry them."

-Margaret Mitchell Gone with the Wind

It had been nearly a month since Harry and Ginny had left New York for home. It was now November, and the weather forecasters were predicting snow any day. Hermione couldn't wait to see the city blanketed in the fresh powder; she loved this time of year.

The conference was only three weeks way, Finn and Hermione had been pouring over the Auror Army proposal all month trying to work out the finer details. They had been able to get every head of state to agree to negotiations, which had been no small feat. Now they just had to get everyone to sign onto the deal in December once it was presented to the Confederation. Minister Moore would surely be a challenge when he found out that the Canadian's were responsible for providing no less the five Auror's. Finn and Hermione both agreed that it was a reasonable number when one considered that the United States and Britain would both provided ten. They hadn't just been figuring out how many Auror's each country would provide though, in fact that had been the easiest part of the whole deal. They had based their numbers off the wizarding population size for each country. No, the hardest point of contention was who would lead the army and where they would be trained.

Yes, each member of said army would have already gone through extensive training prior to joining their respective departments. However simulated situations could never truly give you a clear picture of what true battle looked like. Most of these men and woman will have never seen war. Finn and Hermione had fought long and hard about where this army of Auror's were to be trained and stationed if the time were to ever come. Finn had argued that it should be here in America, while Hermione had argued it should be Britain. Britain still bore its scars from the war; it would be a sobering reminder to the army just how destructive one man can be. Hermione had won in the end; training would start the day after Christmas at Hogwarts while the students were away for the Winter holiday.

When it came to who would lead the charge, it had been a little more complicated. This was an initiative that was being spearhead by both the American's and the British. To Hermione the choice was clear, Harry Potter. He had been the one who had defeated the darkest wizard of all time. The American's didn't think so, though they did concede he was the one who ultimately did bring him down. Harry had help. Hermione couldn't deny this fact, she herself had been there to help him along his journey. In the end it was decided that Marcus Palmer the head of the American Auror and Harry would lead the troops together. Both men agreed and so the foundation for this task force was set. Now it was just up to Chamberlin and Kingsley to get everyone else on board.

The work over the last month had been the easy part for Hermione, her personal life had been more troublesome. She found herself pulling away from Finn more and more with each passing week. If the legend were true, how could she possible find happiness. What if Draco was wrong and Emily wasn't the person who could break the curse. What if the person who could, didn't even know they had the power to do so. What if in another hundred years they woke up in a new life? There were so many what if's that Hermione started to find herself losing hope that she would ever be at peace one day. Finn to his credit just tried harder, so completely unaware.

She had kept her distance from Draco, still mad that he had kept this vital piece of information from her. Or that was what she was telling herself anyways. If she listened to her conscious, she would know that her reason for keeping her distance was much deeper than just anger for being kept in the dark. She had been dodging his calls and texts all month. She even avoided the coffee shop that was just a block from apartment, knowing he would look for her there.

It was Sunday afternoon which meant Finn was in D.C. with his family, Hermione had decided to stay home for the day and was glued to the couch watching American television. Today she was watching an American classic, Gone with the Wind. The old movie stirred something deep within her, she didn't want to be like Scarlett. She didn't want to spend her life pining after a man that will never be hers. Apart of her brain knew that was what she had been doing all month was pining after a man who was never meant to be hers. Maybe Finn wasn't the one, but how would she ever know if she didn't try. As the credit's started to roll, there was knock on the door. The clock on the wall said it was just after four, it couldn't be Finn he would be with his family till at least six. Turning the tv off Hermione stood and made her way to the door. Looking through the peep whole she was confronted with the last person she wanted to see right now. Not when she was coming to terms with the way she felt, not when she had literally just told herself she would put forth a true effort where Finn was concerned. He knocked again. Taking a deep breath, she opened to the door, and stared into those stormy grey eyes.

"You are a hard woman to find." He said as leaned against the door frame with ease.

"Not really, I am only ever in two places. You just can't come looking for me there." This was true, she was either at the Woolworth building or she was here. He couldn't come to see her at work, to many people would talk. He couldn't come here because nine times out of ten Finn would be here too. Today was Sunday though.

"I have wanted to talk to you about something." He said ignoring her jab.

"I see." She had learned coldness and the art of being aloof from the best, and though his mask of indifference hid most of his feelings she could tell that her attitude at the moment wasn't sitting well with him. Perhaps he had been expecting a much warmer welcome.

"Can I come in?" he asked. Say no the voice in her head screamed at her. She had never been able to say no though, so moved aside and let him move past her.

Closing the door, she turned to look at him as he took in his surroundings. He had never been inside before; this was the one place that she had kept free of him. "What is that you want."

"I am going to London to meet with Kingsley."

This surprised her, he had been very adamant about his feelings of expanding his business overseas. "Oh."

"St. Mungo's lack of funding for their potions department is alarming. I would be remised if I don't take this chance to expand."

"May I point out that I tried to tell you this before." She said in a waspish tone.

"Yes, you did, however I didn't believe it till I was sent the numbers. Look my goal has always been to provide what is needed. I do make a profit from it, but only by a small margin. I am not in this business for the money, I want to make a difference. I think I might be able to make a difference there."

"So, did you come here to tell me that I was right, and to say thank you."

"No, I came here to ask you to come with me to London." She had been sure him being here wasn't to say thank you, but she hadn't thought he would be so bold as to ask her to come with him.

"And why would I come with you?"

"Because it is your job. I am the leading provider of medical potions in the states, and Britain is wanting my help to provide them the same service. You are the liaison for the relationship between the two counties and it's your job. Besides, I know for a fact that the American Auror started at the Ministry two weeks ago, it would be a good time to check in on the project."

"Why can't Emily go with you?" she said, unable to see a way around his logic.

"She has her hands full with the upcoming conference, now isn't a good time for her to get away."

"And you think that I don't?"

"Please come with me, I know things haven't been good with you and Finn since Potter left." He said, when she looked surprised at his knowledge of her personal life he smirked. There was the arrogant boy she had despised so much back at school. "I am friends with Finn, even if you have seen fit to see me. It might give you a break, a little space to figure somethings out. Beside you will be able to see your friends."

She wanted to say no, she wanted to tell him he could go to hell and figure it out on his own, but she couldn't. Making this deal happen for St. Mungo's did fall under her job title and going home for a visit did have its own appeal. Besides no matter how much she may want to lead him to believe otherwise, their work on the task force was done. They had laid out all the finer details for the project, they had gotten everyone to agree to come to the table for the discussion, it was now in someone else's hands to get it over the finish line. Beside it would be the perfect time to start talking to Hogwarts about the exchange program between the two school's and maybe even a chance to start outlining a tournament between the two schools. There was no real reason that she shouldn't go, and every reason why she should. Her feelings whatever they maybe for the man standing in front of her couldn't get in the way of her doing her job. She had promised herself this early on, she would not allow him to get in the way of her duty to their world, to the ministry.

"Fine, I will go. But only because you are right it is my job. I am not doing this for you."

"I didn't think you would." He said, she could tell he was being honest. "Look I know you are still mad at me."

"I just don't understand how you didn't think I deserved to know." She wasn't mad, she was hurt. For the first time in four hundred years he hadn't picked her. She had made it very clear; she didn't want him and that she wouldn't pick him over everyone else, but that knowledge didn't stop her from being hurt that he may just in fact love someone more than Henry had loved Helena. She tried to remind herself that they weren't the lather, that they were their own persons. But she could still feel the hallow place that had once been Helena in the back of her mind, and now that she had disconnected herself from the woman, she felt a little lost. She was free, but why was she so afraid of the idea of being free? It had been what she had always wanted had it not? To be free to be Hermione Granger, to be free to find happiness someplace other than where she had found in the past. Now that she was though, she found herself falling into the old trap she had always found herself in. She wanted to give Finn an honest chance because he did make her happy. She could see herself with him in fifty years from now, growing old and having a family. He could be her happy ending, but the voice in the back of her mind told her she didn't need a man for that, she only needed herself.

"You now knowing doesn't have to change anything, so don't let it." He said gently.

"When do you want to leave?" she couldn't go down this road with him right now, not if she had to go with him to London.

"I already have an appointment with Kingsley scheduled for tomorrow at three pm."

"Of course, you do." She said with annoyance. "When Finn gets back from his dinner, I will talk to him and see if he can get us a port key. We will have to leave no later than ten tomorrow morning."

He headed for the door, "I'll be waiting for your call." He said as he opened to the door to let himself out. "Thank you." He said before walking out.

That stupid man, she thought when he was gone. It was ironic really that she thought he was a stupid one, it was her who had allowed him to complicate her life all these years. If only she could neatly tuck him away life could be so much easier.


	12. Chapter 12

"When you're backed against the wall, break the goddamn thing down."

-Harvey Specter Suits

"I just don't understand why you have to go." Finn said while laying on her bed as he watched her pack her suitcase.

"Because Kingsley ask me to come back to London for the meeting." She hadn't been able to tell Finn that it was Draco who had asked her to come. It would bring up too many questions she didn't have answers for. "Besides I haven't been back to London since moving here, I need to check in at the Ministry. We are hosting the Quidditch World cup next summer, and the planning is just getting underway. There is a lot of pressure for this to go off with out a hitch after the disaster from the last time Britain hosted the Cup. Plus, I have to go over the final guest list for the Banquet we are hosting for the delegates of the Confederation."

"I just don't see why you need to be gone a whole week and what is with the short notice. We were supposed to have dinner with my sister's this week." He was being a bit whinny, which annoyed her but was cute all the same. He didn't want her to go, because he was going to miss her.

"Tell them I am extremely sorry, and that when I am back next week it will be one of the first things we do at the beginning of the week. Besides I was thinking maybe you could come to London this weekend." She had stopped folding the clothes that were currently in her hand and turned to look at a Finn who had sat up in the bed a little at this question. "I mean you said you have never been."

"You want me to come to London?"

"Yes,

"Do I get to meet Ron?" he asked a little sheepishly. She still founded so weird that he was so impressed with the 'Golden Trio' as he was.

"We'll see, so is that a yes?" she asked holding her breath. She was putting herself out there, she was making an effort.

"Yes, and I want to see the Ministry, oh and do you think we can go to Buckingham Palace I have always wanted to see that. Oh, and Big Ben, do you think we could make it a long weekend?"

She laughed at how excited he was at the prospect of visiting London. "Well I am up for it if you are."

He jumped off the bed and came around to where she was standing, he wrapped both arms around her waist and looked down at her, his soft secret smile was playing on his lips before he bent his head down and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was sweet and gentle, and it let Hermione know just how much a trip to London with her meant to him.

…

After Finn had gotten back from his weekly trip to D.C. and had agreed to get Draco and her an international portkey, she had texted Draco to meet her in her office at nine forty-five the following morning, they would be leaving from there.

She had called both Harry and Ron to let them know she would be coming into town this week and expected to see them both at least twice while she was in London. Ginny of course was ecstatic at the prospect of having one of her closets friend's home, even if it was only for the week. Despite the reason for her visit she was happy to be going home, she had never been so far away for so long.

Having said a very thorough goodbye that morning to Finn, Hermione was alone in her office when Draco came in five minutes before the portkey was to leave. He strode in with ease, suitcase in one hand and messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

"Do you think we will have time to stop at the Leaky Caldron before heading into the Ministry?" he asked when the door closed behind him.

"No, the portkey is taking us directly to the Ministry." Hermione said as stood from her desk gathering files, she would be taking with her and stuffing them down into her large purse. "We have to get you registered at the welcome desk before we head up to the Minister's office. My assistant Ella will be waiting for us when we arrive, she will be able to handle our luggage until we are ready to leave."

"Ok then." He moved to the desk and stood waiting for her to come around with the portkey. When she did, she offered out a small pocket watch, which he took hold of. At 9:45 on the dot the portkey glowed and there was a tight pull behind their naval before they with both sucked away from her office in New York. When their feet touched the ground again, they were standing at the far end of the Atrium near the fireplaces. Seeing at it was mid afternoon in London the atrium was mostly empty of workers. Most people had already returned from their lunch hour and were finishing out their Monday afternoon. Draco let go of the pocket watch and Hermione threw it into her over large bag before making her way over to the welcome desk where an elderly man sat reading that morning paper.

"Good afternoon Harold," Hermione said cheerfully.

The man looked up and smiled at her. "Miss Granger I didn't know you were back." Harold said.

"Just for a short visit. Draco Malfoy is here to see the Minister; can you please get him a visitor's pass." The man turned to look at Draco and the moment their eyes met Hermione could see the mistrust in Harold's eyes.

"He will always have to check is wand." He said to Hermione, not addressing Draco directly. Hermione could tell that Draco was having a hard time trying to keep his cool. She knew this trip wasn't going to be easy for him. He had left after the war, many people thought he was coward for doing so. Draco pulled his wand from his pocket and handed it over to the old wizard before being handed a visitor's pass that he was to pin to his jacket.

"Thank you, Harold." Hermione said grabbing Draco's arm and steering him towards the fountain that was directly in the middle of the Atrium.

"I should have requested a meeting away from the Ministry." Draco said when they were out of earshot of Harold.

"Kingsley doesn't do official meetings outside of the Ministry. He doesn't want to be like Fudge who was easily bought by those with money." Hermione retorted as she looked around for Ella. "Besides if you are going to do business here then you better get use to the dirty looks."

"Thanks for encouragement Granger." He said dryly.

She turned to him and her general demeaner softened just a bit. "Look, I know you have changed. More importantly Kingsley knows it too or he wouldn't have sent you that letter. Everyone else is a bit behind, but they will catch on, you just need to give it a little time. People are still healing from what happened, and there is still a lot of mistrust." A young witch who could be no more than nineteen was walking towards them from the lifts. Hermione smiled kindly at the young girl. "Ella, thank you for coming down."

"It's my pleasure Ms. Granger." She said with a huge grin.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Hermione. I am barley older than you." Hermione gave Draco a sideways look before gesturing to him "Ella I would like you to meet Draco Malfoy, he is here with me for a meeting with the Minister." Ella looked Draco over for a moment, they could both tell the young woman was sizing him up.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Malfoy." Ella said extending her hand to him which he took.

"I have already talked to Percy Weasley, he is allowing me to use you for the week while I am here. I have a lot of work to get through on this visit. Would you be so kind, and take our luggage up to my old office, we didn't have time to drop it off before we came in." Hermione said getting down to business now that the pleasantries were out of the way.

"Not a problem. Should I wait for you outside of the Minister's office?"

"No, I'll come and find you when we are done." She said handing the girl her small suitcase and Draco did the same.

"Very well." She nodded her head to both before turning to leave.

"She seems like a nice enough young girl." Draco said when she was gone.

"Wish I could have taken her with me to New York. The girl is dedicated that is for sure, never complained about the long hours and the occasional weekend in the office."

Draco laughed at this. Yes, the workaholic Granger, he shook his head. "Well let's get this over with." He said motioning to the lifts that were just on the other side of the fountain.

The meeting had gone extremely well all things considered. Kingsley had been very impressed by the plan of action Draco had a laid out for St. Mungo's. The immediate plan was for DM International to start shipping the needed supply of potions to St. Mungo's via carrier, and he would only be charging the hospital cost. That was just the beginning though, he wanted to move his entire production lab from the states to London. When Kingsley asked why he would make such a bold business move Draco had simply said it was good business. As it was now, he was having to important most the of the ingredients that were used because they weren't widely available in the states. Most witches had their own witches garden but that was for personal use. Ilvermorny who had by far the largest greenhouse in the country only grew what was needed for the potions that were taught at the school. Having to import most of what was needed for the brewing was costly, and that cost was passed down to the consumer. Moving the brewing operation to London where ingredients were more readily available would save time and money, all of which the customer's here and in the states would benefit from.

He still planned to keep the new research department in New York. Right now, MACUSA was able to give more funding to the new division. That wasn't to say however he wouldn't open a branch of the research division here in Britain down the road if the Ministry and St. Mungo's was willing to work with him and his team. For now, though the focus would be moving most of DM Internationals operations to Britain which meant Draco would be spending a lot of time here in London. Kinsley had made it very clear to Hermione that she was to help Draco and his business by whatever means necessary to make the transition as smooth as possible.

When the meeting was done, they both excused themselves and made their way down to Hermione's old office, Percy was allowing her to use while she was in town, seeing as they hadn't found anyone to replace her. She left big shoes to fill.

"I want to start looking for office space tomorrow." Draco said when the door closed behind them.

"Where did you have in mind."

"Not Diagon Alley, that is for sure." He took the single chair that stood in front of the desk and propped his feet up on the desk. Hermione rolled her eyes, pushed his feet off the desk back to the floor where they landed with a loud thump before moving around the desk and taking a seat. She busied herself pulling out all the folders from her bag and laying them out on to the desk.

"Well first thing first is you need to schedule a meeting with the head of St. Mungo's for tomorrow morning. I will get Ella to do it, she knows Healer Smith's daughter and should be able to arrange one for first thing in the morning. I will also see if she can arrange appointments with a muggle relator to view some vacant office spaces for in the afternoon. But you need to get your own assistant here, we are not your lackies we work for the Ministry not DM International."

"Kingsley said..." he started to say but she held up a hand to stop him.

"Kingsley said I needed to help you in whatever way I can, meaning fast tracking any permits you might need to move the business, working with MACUSA for revolving international portkeys. Putting you in touch with the right people at St. Mungo's. I am not here however to help you find an office or help you staff said office. Besides I am only here for the week, come Monday I am on my way back to New York."

"We both know you aren't going back to New York." He said dryly. His arrogance grated on her nerves.

"And what makes you say that?"

"They have you back in London, they aren't letting you go that easy. Besides you are wasted in a liaison position." She had heard many people say that, it annoyed her. Even if it were true, she was enjoying the job she was doing.

"They can't keep me from going back." Hermione said stubbornly.

"I have it on good authority Kinsley didn't want you taking the job in the first place. You are the best he he's got and you being across the pond is hindering things here." By good authority he meant Emily. "How full do they have your schedule this week?"

He was right, Kingsley hadn't wanted to her to take the job. He had only allowed it because the first thing on the agenda was the new task force, he knew she would make it happen, now that it was all but a done deal…all the other programs could be handled from here. "Yes, things are a bit behind here but…"

"But what? They haven't filled your job Hermione; you can see the writing on the wall can you not? They didn't fill the position because they never were going to allow you to stay longer than what it took to get this new Auror Army off the ground. Besides ties with the US have never been better. They don't need someone there all the time."

"And let me guess you have heard all of this from Emily."

"Why do you think I asked you to come with me? I am a big boy Hermione and I can take care of myself. Kingsley asked that I get you here, so I did."

"And why you? As far as anyone knows we aren't friends."

"That isn't the story Potter told Kingsley after his visit to New York last month. Are we even friends? I mean you have done a pretty good job at ignoring me all month."

She didn't say anything, it was too much information to take in all at once. It looked like Kingsley was going to get his way after all, her back in London. She wasn't sure why she hadn't seen it coming. I mean of course the arrogant Slytherin would help trick her into coming back. She wondered if Harry had known about the plan or was part of the plan. He hadn't wanted her to go either. Mostly though she wondered what had been in it for Draco. Why help, what did he care if she was in New York or if she was back in London, either way it didn't affect him. And then there was Finn, how would he take the news?


	13. Chapter 13

_You are always one decision away from a totally different life. _

It was Tuesday afternoon and Hermione was angrier than she had been in a long time. She had sat through three meetings that morning, all about the up coming Conference, it was long, and it was dull and had tripled her workload. Seeing as Britain would be hosting this year's meeting, her department was in charge of the logistics for the arrivals for the various heads of states and their lodgings. The department had known for months they would oversee the lodgings but had yet to find an appropriate sight for the events. Percy had put Hermione in charge of this task, which was no small feat. How was she supposed to figure out what to do with seventy-five people by the end of the week? She didn't care what Malfoy had said about Kingsley trying to keep her here. She was going back to New York. The second meeting covered the gala the Ministry was to host on the final evening of the conference. It was to take place at Hogwarts, to show the rest of their world that Britain was indeed healing from the aftereffects of the war. It would also give the 6th and 7th years at Hogwarts a chance to rub elbows with some of the most important people from around the world. Yet again however though the location had been decided on for weeks the planning of it all had yet to be started. Percy had also added this to her to do list. Finally, she had a sit down with Harry and Kingsley about the preparations for the wizard army if the Confederation approved it. Seeing as she was to head to Hogwarts in the next few days, she was asked if she would talk to the Head Mistress about using Hogwarts for training ground's over the Christmas Holiday. Finally fed up with what seemed to be a never-ending list she gathered to courage to broach the subject with Kingsley.

"Sir with all due respect, I am not sure I can get this all done before I leave for New York at the end of the weekend." She said with what she hoped was a pleasant smile.

Kingsley sighed and looked at her with a bit of pity. "Hermione, I am not sure getting back to New York so quickly is in the cards. We have a lot going on here at the moment."

Her heart sank. Malfoy had been right; they weren't going to let her leave. "Sir, I am the liaison with the American's."

"And you have a done a fine job indeed with coordinating with the Americans, but I need my best people here working on the events that are to take place here." Kingsley said kindly.

"Why did you let me go in the first place? If you were only going to allow me to stay for a short time?" she was angry, and she knew her temper was showing but she didn't care.

"I thought getting away for a bit might be beneficial for you, but I can't let my best person be wasted on just the American's. We have a lot of ties around the world that need mending, you have done what was asked of you there, and now we need to turn our attention to other things. Besides our relationship with the American's is in good standings, I think we can scale back our presence there."

Hermione looked to Harry for some help, she got none. He looked at her with a bit of pity which told her that he had known about this for some time. Her anger getting the best of her "Well if that is all for now, may I be excused?" she said. It wasn't really a question and both men knew she was at her tipping point.

"I received an owl this morning from Mr. Malfoy, his meeting with Healer Smith went well and he is moving forward with looking for office space. Seeing as he doesn't want to be in Diagon Alley that only leaves Muggle London. I was hoping, that since you are more familiar with the area than most you would accompany him this afternoon to look for premises. I don't have to remind you of how much we need this business for Britain." Kingsley said in a tone in which left no room for argument. That stupid, stupid little ferret.

Her second day in London was back to a very rocky start, it was now just after one and Hermione was making her way towards the first showing of an office building not far from Charring Cross. It had started to snow which only fueled her anger; she was already late. As she rounded the corner of the street, she saw Malfoy and a muggle woman who seemed to be waiting outside of a nondescript building chatting. When he caught sight of her, he smiled but it faded when he saw the look on her face. He would be in for it when they were out of earshot of Amber he knew.

"Amber this is Hermione Granger." Draco said once she had reached the two.

"Lovely to meet you Ms. Granger." Amber extended her hand to Hermione which she took before plastering a fake smile.

"Same, shall we?'" Hermione said wanting to get this over with.

"Yes, this the first of three building's I have lined up for this afternoon. I think this fits all the requirements that Mr Malfoy has a laid out."

"Lovely." She ignored the silent questions Malfoy was trying ask with just a few glances. She didn't trust her anger at the moment and didn't want it to spill over, not while they were in the presence of a muggle.

The offices space was large, three floors of the same mundane office space one would expect from a building such as this. Magic would of course be used to transform whatever space was eventual picked, it would come down to location more than anything else. When Amber had stepped away to make a phone call they were finally alone, she rounded on him.

"Why I am here? I told you yesterday I wasn't your lacky."

"I thought that since this was your idea, that maybe you would have some interest in where I might set up shop."

"I don't have time for this, do you have any idea how much work I have to get done for the Ministry?"

"A fair bit I would imagine." He said with a smirk. Her irritation rose at that stupid smirk.

"A fair bit? I must find lodgings for seventy-five people, not to mention planning a party. On top of everything else my normal workload requires."

"What do you think of this place?" he asked changing the subject.

"This is the opposite side of London from St. Mungo's, and very close to Diagon Alley, which you didn't want to be in." they could still see Amber who was still on the phone about twenty feet away. "The building next to St. Mungo's is for sale, why not there. The Ministry has been concerned what kind of Muggle might buy the building, if you were to buy it, I think it would make a lot of people more comfortable, besides then you would be close to the hospital."

"It's not large enough." Draco said sticking his hands into his pockets.

"Magic could fix that."

"I don't know." She could tell he was uncomfortable being so close to where every day witch's and wizards traveled daily.

"Look I know that you want to stay out of the prying eyes of other's, but that building would be prefect. Besides people don't have to know that it is you. The ministry can keep that information private." He gave her a skeptical look. "A lot has changed since you left."

Amber hung up the phone and made her way back to them with a smile "So what do you guys think?" she asked kindly.

By five o'clock they had been able to get into the building next to St. Mungo's and take a tour. Draco had been right it was much smaller than the first building that they had looked at over near Charring Cross, but it was nothing magic couldn't fix, and the location was prefect. Even if Draco didn't think so, besides if he didn't want her opinion, he shouldn't have requested she come a long in the first place. When they left Amber, she was already working on getting the building under contract so they could start the process of turning it into what they needed. When they were back out on the busy London street, he turned to her.

"Can I buy you dinner as a thank you?" he asked the sun was already starting to set over the city.

"Do you like sushi?" she asked. Some of her anger had started to fade away as the afternoon slipped by. She knew it wasn't his fault that Kingsley wanted to keep her here. It wasn't his fault that the number of things that needed to be done for the upcoming conference had yet to be started. Even though the last thing she had wanted to do this afternoon was to come look for an office space she knew that here in London she was the closet thing he had to a friend.

"Can't say that I have ever had it." He mused; he knew what it was but had never actually ventured out into the muggle world in New York to try it.

"Well my favorite place is just around the corner from here."

"Lead the way."

….

It was Friday which meant that in less than twelve hours Finn would be arriving in London, and Hermione had yet to figure out the best way to tell him she wasn't going back to New York, or at least not the for seeable future. Ginny thought she should have fought Kingsley a little harder on the topic if it was really that important to her, and Draco thought it might be good for her to stay in London for a while. Nothing tested a relationship more than time and distance. Hermione thought this was strange advice, because really what did he know about it? The fact remained she had to tell him, and she wasn't sure how.

Besides having to deal with some of the finer details of the upcoming conference, she also had to deal with finding a new flat, seeing as she had let her flat go when she thought she was going to be in New York for more than a few a months. It was a real shame too because she had loved that place, and it had taken her ages to find something that was affordable, in a good location and wasn't a complete dump. Draco had told her she was more than welcome to stay at the small brownstone his family owned in the city while she looked but she hadn't taken him up on the offer, it was a little to weird. Deciding though that the Leaky Caldron wasn't suitable for Finn's visit she had checked out of the small inn and into The Chelsea which wasn't to far from Buckingham Place. She thought it was prefect for a romantic weekend, and she hoped that after a fun full packed weekend the news of her not returning with him would be less of a blow. All week when they had talked, she had tip toed around the fact, and wouldn't agree to any plans back in New York.

She still had to get through the rest of the day first and it was going to be a doozy. The wizarding world in Britain had very little in the way of accommodations for large numbers of people who didn't reside in London full time. Draco had offered to house the delegation at the Manor, but Hermione had quickly vetoed that idea. Voldemort's lair hardly seemed appropriate, not when they were trying to show the larger wizarding world that they were not the same as they once were. Even if his mother had completely remolded the manor from top to bottom and it was now hardly recognizable as the once dark and stoic house it once was.

Seeing as most of the weeks meeting where to be held at the Ministry of magic the lodging's needed to be close by, this was a request Kingsley had made and it was reasonable. However, the question remained where. She had thought about renting out a muggle hotel for the week, but the logistics of how they would be able to do it become way to daunting. Even if they could rent one out, the amount of memory charms that would be needed to make the staff completely unaware of what was going on around them made her head hurt. Besides she had had her fill of memory charms. And then it came to her, and she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before.

After viewing several office buildings with Draco, it was clear, all they had to do was rent out an abandoned office space that didn't see much muggle traffic, magic would take care of the rest. It was prefect, and Kingsley had given it his seal of approval. As luck would have it there was office space not far from the visitor's entrance that was going to be prefect. Her first meeting of the day was with Amber the muggle realtor who was helping her set up the whole thing, next week they would be able to start work on getting it ready.

Seeing as she wasn't in any hurry any longer she had pushed off her visit to Hogwarts, thinking that Finn might want to see the old majestic school she had owled Professor McGonagall to see if she would be able to meet them over the weekend, she was still waiting on her answer.

All and all it had been a long week, and she was ready for it be over. She watched the clock as time slowly creeped by waiting for six o'clock to arrive. The one thing she wanted more than anything, and the one thing she feared all at the same time was to have Finn standing in front of her, but time was a funny thing, it never slowed down when you wanted it too, and it wouldn't speed up either.

Author's Note: I know I suck! I am sorry it took me three weeks to update. I did post three chapters to make it up to you in the hopes you will forgive me. Life has caught up with me, and I have been playing catch up. Thanks to all of you who are keeping up with this story. Till next week.


	14. Chapter 14

"I deserved a better goodbye"

At six o'clock on the dot Finn landed in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic, bag in hand and a huge grin on his face. Hermione rushed forwarded and allowed him to wrap both arms around her as he bent to give her a gentle kiss, a warm greeting she had been missing all week. What Hermione hadn't been expecting was Emily Chamberlin who was standing just behind Finn. She had a hard time not turning a cold glare on the woman, she had after all been part of the ploy to get her back here to England. Hermione was reasonable enough to know that it probably had more to do with doing a favor for Kingsley and less to do with Hermione but all the same she had helped. It was funny how she could hold Emily accountable for it but when it came to Draco, she didn't feel the same resentment, she wasn't capable of it.

"Merlin, I have missed you this week." Finn said in her ear before pulling away to taking a good look at her. "So, this is the famous Ministry of Magic, one of the places Harry Potter famously faced Voldemort."

"We don't talk about that here." Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. American's had a rich history, but nothing quite as juicy as Britain's more resent history. "Emily, I didn't know you would be coming too." Hermione said leaning around Finn to get a good look at the other witch.

"Well since Draco will be spending a lot of time here in the near future, I thought I might surprise him with a visit. Not use to having him so far away."

"How lovely." Hermione said in a sweet voice that was the exact opposite than the way she was feeling. "Well if you don't mind, I think we are going to head out. I have a whole weekend planned for us and I want to get it started."

"Of course, don't let me keep you. I was just going to head up and see Kingsley before I started to try and track down Draco." She smiled at the couple.

"You might try the office building next to St. Mungo's first, I know he is busy trying to get that up and running before some of his staff start arriving in a few weeks." She looked back to Finn and smiled "Shall we?" he smiled back to her before turning to wave to Emily before taking Hermione by the hand and allowing her to lead the way.

Once they left the Ministry Hermione took him to her favorite fish and chips place that happened not to be too far from the hotel they would be staying at for the weekend. Now that she had Finn here, she let go of the anger she had been carrying all week, she wanted to enjoy this time with him because she wasn't sure when they would be able to do it again. They opted to walk most of the way so Finn could take in the city and all its true glory. It had snowed all day which meant that London was under a blanket of fresh white snow which in Hermione's opinion only made the city more beautiful.

When they were done with dinner they walked to the hotel hand and hand, and Hermione couldn't help but feel content at where she was in this moment, the fear and the worry of telling him the truth was there but she didn't let it overwhelm her like she had allowed it to do all week. She was living in this moment and wouldn't let anything taint the memory's they were making right now. She had told her friends not to expect to see them tonight, no she fully intended to keep this gorgeous man all to herself tonight. Finn had away of pushing everything to further reaches of her mind when they were a lone together naked in bed, he was a kind lover who took her pleasure just as much as his own seriously. It was no wonder she found herself falling for this man more and more with each passing day.

It was well into the morning when the two finally started to stir in bed the next day. They had spent most of the night worshiping each other and had been too tired to even and try to make an early morning of it. After the fifth phone call from Ginny however they both knew it was time, or else they might have a firer redhead banging on their door very soon. It was decided by Ginny that they would have brunch at eleven at the new café that had just opened in Diagon Alley, with a little more than an hour before they were to meet the Potter's and Ron. They pulled themselves from the bed and made their way to the shower, they would after all need all the time they could get if their normal shower routine was any indication.

It had been hard but the two had been able to make it to the Leaky Caldron with five minutes to spare. Finn was fascinated by the old grimy pub that concealed the entrance to the most magical place on earth, well in Hermione's opinion anyways. Finn's face at the first glimpse of the little Alley was pretty similar to her own the first time she had seen it as a child. It wasn't hard to see where the architect of Main Street in the states had gotten their inspiration. They had done a fine job imitating the wonder, but it would never compare to the real thing, and before the day was done, she would get Finn to admit the same thing. She hurried him along and promised him that after they ate, they would explore, because if they weren't careful, they would be late, and Ginny would have both their hides for it.

As usual though Hermione was the first to arrive which meant she would be able to rub it in that Ginny herself was running late when she had warned Hermione not to do the same. Oh, sweet justice, it did rankle her though, it just meant they had could spent more time in that divine shower. They didn't have to wait to long before Ginny's bright red hair came into view, Harry and Ron not far behind her. Hermione smiled at them all when they reached the table. She had been giving Harry the cold shoulder all week for whatever part it was that he had played in helping Kingsley, but now she had jumped up to give them all a hug and introduced Finn and Ron.

"Finn what do you think of London." Ginny asked when they were all settled around the table.

"It's amazing, I can't believe I have never made time to come and see it before." The smile that lit up his face made Hermione heart stop for a moment as she watched the man she was falling for and her friends.

"I still can't wait to go the States." Was Ron's answer to his, he had been rather put out by not being the first Auror sent for the new program.

"Don't worry Ron, you will get your turn and I am sure that Luna will love New York." Hermione said with a laugh. "Besides right now Harry needs you here, big things are hopefully going to be happening soon and he is going to need his number two."

"Yeah yeah, I know I have already heard it all." The redhead man said with a frown, but she knew that he would get over it eventually.

"So, what do you guys have planned for the rest of the day?" Harry asked trying offer an olive branch.

"I thought we might spend some time wondering around the Alley. Finn here seemed pretty amazed by it when we came in. Then I thought we might head back out into London, explore some of the tourist traps before grabbing a bite to eat."

"We have a pickup game of Quidditch this afternoon at mum and dad's if you guys wanted to stop by. Ginny said you were a fan of the game, maybe you could even teach us your version of it, Finn." Ron said of handedly. "Stay for dinner even, its been forever since you've been Hermione you know how mum gets."

"That would be awesome." Finn said delighted at being invited to play with her group of friends. "Can we?" he asked as if he was a child asking for ice cream.

Hermione wanted to say no, it was bad enough she was having to share him with her friends over brunch but the look of pure joy on his face kept her from uttering the word. "Sure." Was all she managed. She looked to Harry who could see the utter disappoint written all over her face. He gave her a sad smile as if to say 'sorry', she shook the feeling of disappointment off and plastered a smile so Finn wouldn't notice.

With their afternoon hijacked by Ron, Hermione found herself sitting in the back garden of burrow with all the Weasley's watching the game. Harry had picked Finn to be on his team to Ron's disappointment who had called dibs on Finn before they had left the restaurant. Ginny was sitting this one out and sat beside Hermione as the boys played hard.

"I take it that you haven't told him yet." She whispered to Hermione as Ron made a nice save keeping Finn from scoring a point.

"No." Ginny looked at her with pity before turning back to the game. "I don't know how to broach the subject honestly. Hey by the way I can't go back to New York with you."

"What did Malfoy say?" she asked and when Hermione turned to give her a funny look Ginny gave her one of her all-knowing looks. "Don't play dumb, I know all about your little friendship with him. Harry told me after we got back from New York. Besides I have hardly seen you all week, and I know for a fact that you left before five every day. If you weren't with us, then…"

"What exactly did Harry tell you? And besides I have been helping him out while he transitions his business." Had Harry told Ginny the whole story? She knew that he had a hard time keeping things from her, but he had promised Hermione that this would stay between them.

"That still doesn't answer my question Hermione."

"He said maybe some time and distance would be good for us. We moved so quickly, its easy to get caught up in the newness of it all."

"All Harry said was that you had found a friend in Malfoy of all people." Hermione breathed a sigh of relief; it did seem like he could keep secrets from his wife.

"He isn't the same person he was when we were at Hogwarts" Hermione said lamely.

"I don't think any of us are, do you?" the redhead witch asked, "I mean I know I'm not, you certainly aren't the same girl that started at Hogwarts all eleven years old."

"They are friends, Finn and Malfoy. Finn use to date Emily, back when they were in school."

"That's a little weird isn't it?" Ginny asked, Hermione could tell she was watching her American boyfriend like a hawk.

"Or just mature."

"Whatever you say Hermione."

The rest of the evening was pleasant, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were as welcoming as always and made Finn feel right at home, he was regaled with more of their adventures from Hogwarts and had even survived a practical joke George had played on him. All in all, it had been a wonderful evening spent with friends and family. It was just past seven when the couple left the burrow to make their way back to London, with most of the early evening gone they had decided to head back to the hotel and call it a day. They still had a lot of making up to do for their week apart.

The following morning dawned, and Hermione was surprised to wake up to find Finn had ordered them room service so they wouldn't have to leave the comfortable confines of their room to find food. The morning's paper was laying at the end of the bed when Hermione sat up and stretched her sore muscles. She reached for it and was brought up short by the picture that took up most of the front page. It was of Emily and Draco and the headline read 'Former Death eater finds love in American witch.'

"He is going to love that one." Finn remarked as he looked at it over Hermione's shoulder.

"That he will." She said under breath.

"So, what were your plans today Miss Granger. Keep me locked up in here all day so you can have your way with me or are we venturing out into the world." He asked moving so he was now right beside her, he trailed kisses down her neck to her shoulder that made it impossible to actual think straight.

"Keep that up and I might just keep you in here all day." She said smiling as she tossed the paper to the ground before turning to face him.

"I was thinking about something, and I wanted to run it by you." He said in between kisses. All she could manage was a few sounds that made no known coherent word. "What would you think about moving in with me when we get back to New York?"

This brought her crashing back down to reality, she pulled away as her heart leaped up into her throat, it seemed the moment she had been avoiding all weekend had finally come. "Finn."

"To soon? It's too soon, I just can't help it. We already spend so much of our time together I was just thinking that instead of traveling back and forth between apartments that we could just have one."

"Finn." She tried to say but he was working himself up.

"You don't have to answer right now but just promise me that you will think about at least."

"Finn…I'm not going back to New York." Whatever he had been expecting for her to say that was defiantly not it, if the look on his face was any indication.

"What do you mean you aren't going back; we have things that we still need to do. And what about us?" When she didn't immediately respond he pulled further away from her and stood from the bed. "Is this your way of trying to end things? If it is that makes you a really sorry person Hermione."

His words hurt; in the past she might have ended it with someone this way but not with him. She sat up on her knees and scooted closer to the edge of the bed reaching out a hand to him. "Of course not, I don't want to end things Finn, I want to go back with you it's just…"

"It's just what? This is your way of pulling away isn't it? Ginny said you were afraid of commitment, she said you always find away of sabotaging yourself and your relationships."

"No, this is about work. Kingsley doesn't want me going back, he feels we have to much going on here at the moment and doesn't want to waste my talents when we have so much to get done."

"Why don't I believe you?" he asked, his words were harsh, and she didn't feel that she deserved them. "You have been pulling away from me for weeks and now this. When did you know you weren't coming back?"

"On Monday, when Malfoy told me." She said in a small voice.

"What does Drake have to do with any of this? And really you knew on Monday and didn't think you should tell me this before I traveled half-way around the world to see you."

"I didn't want tell you over long distance, and he and Emily knew about it. Him asking me to come with him was all part of it."

"You said Kingsley asked you to come not him." he had finally caught her in one of her lies, and the look of utter betrayal on his face ripped her heart in two. It wasn't just her though and she knew it, his friends had been apart of it too.

"Finn," she said standing from the bed and reaching for him, but he took a step back and put both hand up.

"Don't, I think we are finished, here don't you?"

"Please don't go, not like this. We can make this work; I know we can." She remained where she was, but she wanted nothing more than reach out for him to pull him into her arms and show him that they could do this.

"I don't even know if I can trust you right now, let a lone try and make something work when there is an entire ocean between us." He had started to move around the room to gather all his things before tossing them into his bag with a little more force than what was necessary.

"Finn," she tried to say but what she truly wanted to say she wasn't sure of and the profound grief at the thought of loosing him was starting to take over as she watched him moving around the room with anger.

When he was done, he turned to look at her, the hurt and bitterness was written all over his face and it broke her already fragile heart. "I need some time…" was all he said before he walked out of the hotel room, the door closing behind him with a loud snap. Desperate to make the waves of pain stop, she did the only thing she could think of doing, she found the two pieces of the cord that was her link to Helena and tied them back together, she couldn't face this heart break alone. When two pieces were once again one, they knitted themselves back together as if they had never been broken, and just like that everything changed.

**Authors note: Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this fic, it means a lot that you guys are enjoying this story. Leave a review and let me know what you think of this chapter. **


	15. Chapter 15

It was Monday afternoon and Hermione was curled up in a ball in bed, she hadn't been able to bring herself to move from this spot since Finn had walked out the day before. Having Helena back had helped only so much as to not feel completely and utterly alone in the pain, Helena shared the burden with her, but it didn't make it go away. After what must have been the hundredth call to her phone, she turned it off, and called down to the front desk to tell them she would be staying a few more nights. The silence hurt, thinking hurt, breathing hurt. She wondered what he was doing right this second, if he was as torn up about it as she was. The thought that maybe he wasn't despite the way he looked at her yesterday before he left made, her feel as broken as she could ever remember being.

There was knock on the door that brought her out of a fitful sleep, she wasn't sure what time it was, she had drawn the curtains closed unable to have the bright light blaring in at her. There was another knock on the door this time louder. She didn't move, she didn't want to see any, let a lone have to explain to someone what had happened, how it had all blown up in her face so marvelously. Maybe it was housekeeping wanting to know if she needed more towels. Whoever it was knocked again, but she wouldn't move from her spot under the covers.

The locked clicked and she could hear the door open and someone step inside. She thought she might should feel some panic, but she couldn't feel anything other than pain, and loss. Helena laid there beside her, she knew what pain was, she knew what loss was, and for the first time the two were perfectly in sync.

"Granger." She heard him say before she felt the bed sag under his weight. She couldn't find her voice it had gone from lack of use. "I know what happened." He said gently, she wasn't sure if she had ever heard him sound this compassionate. "You don't have to talk, but I do need to know you are still alive. There are a lot of people looking for you right now."

She pulled the covers from over her head and stared into the deep grey eyes of Draco Malfoy. "How did you know where to find me." She croaked out wondered ideally if maybe he had reached out to Henry to find her, but she dismissed that thought, it would only work if he thought she might reach for Helena, and why would he think she would do that.

"I got Finn to tell me." He said sadly.

"Finn." She whispered his name as if the sound of her own voice hurt, which it did of course. "How is…" she couldn't finish the question; did she really want to know?

"Why don't you sit up." He said reaching out to help her. "Have you eaten anything today."

"No." was all she could manage.

"What about a shower?" she shook her head 'no' this time unable to speak. "Do you want me to call Potter or his wife?" again she shook her head. She didn't want to see anyone, she didn't want to have to speak, she didn't want to do anything other than just be here in this spot and not move. "Well you need to eat something, and you need to at least take a bath, if you aren't up for a shower." He stood and walked over to the bathroom, a moment later she could hear the tap running before he appeared at the doorway again. "Get up." His gentle tone gone and replaced with one that was more brisk. She did as he asked and moved past him into the bathroom. "I am going to order some food, while you are in there, and get a maid in here to changed the sheets." She didn't say anything or give any indication that she had heard him at all, she just closed the door behind her. Slowly she made her way to the tube where she slipped off her shirt, shorts, and undergarments before sliding into the warm water.

He was gone and she had been the one to push him away, this had been the first time she thought she might have a chance at happiness, and now it was gone. She had no one but herself to blame for it, she had been clinging onto her secrets for so long, how would anyone ever understand, the only person who did she had pushed away a long time ago, even now she held him at arm's length. She had never trusted herself with him, and now that he had wormed his way back in, she was scared. She was scared that she would feel this pain for the rest of her life. A break-up had never been this devastating before, she had never allowed herself the free will to enjoy someone else company, she carried to many burdens. Now that she had allowed herself to fall, she wondered why she had even allowed it. Sure her life before New York was a bit lonely at times, but being alone meant never feeling like this, and she thought this pain might actually kill her. She could hear Helena in her head telling her that it would be ok, that she would pick up the pieces and survive this like so much else she had survived in her life but she couldn't help but feel that those words were hallow. Helena hadn't survived, four hundred years later she was still pinning after the same man. She lay there in the tub and tried to shut it all off, close her mind to the pain and focus on the coming days, but all she could see when she closed her eyes was the look of hurt on Finn's face as he walked out of the door.

When Harry Potter walked into his new office building demanding to know where Hermione was he was a bit at a loss for words. Why should he know where she was, it hadn't seen her since Friday. The Boy who lived looked scared, and when he said he couldn't reach her on her phone some of his fear started to seep into Draco just a bit. He knew of course that she was capable of taking care of herself, he had seen it first hand one numerous occasions, but something in him was nagging him, things were not right. It wasn't like her not to answer her phone, it was practically glued to her hip. When Draco suggested maybe she was still with Finn, Harry had informed him that the American wizard had taken an early port key back to the States yesterday morning, and Hermione hadn't shown up for work this morning, missing two important meetings, something she would never do without at least telling someone. At this point the fear had finally taken hold of him, he pulled out his own phone and dialed Emily's number, maybe she had seen Finn, and she would know what was going on. When Emily was just as clueless as the rest of them, he made up his mind and asked Potter to get him a two-way port key. Potter pulled out a paper clip from his pocket and casted the enchantment without hesitation.

Within in moments of touching the paper clip Draco was standing in front Finn Bishops front door. He knocked twice before waiting to for a sound from within, when none came he knocked again. This time the door swung open to reveal Finn who looked a little worse for wear. "What is it Malfoy." The man spit out at him. Finn's hostile tone took Draco by surprise, the two had always gotten a long just fine.

"Is Hermione here with you?" Draco asked trying to look past Finn into the apartment beyond.

"No." was his clipped response.

"Do you know where she is, she isn't answering anyone's phone calls."

"I am surprised you don't know; I would have thought she would have come running to you the moment I left." The bitterness in his tone was unmistakable.

"Did you two have a fight?" Draco was more than just a little lost. She had been so happy to see him, even if she was nervous about telling him of the change of plan's, and Emily had said the trip was all Finn could talk about all week. Had he taken the news of her staying that badly.

"I don't think a fight would cover what happened between me and Hermione. She lied to me."

"Finn she didn't lie, she just wasn't sure how to tell you. Besides she wanted to make sure there wasn't anything she could do to change the Minister's mind before having to tell you. I know long distance can be a pain but if the two of you really care for each other I am sure you can work it all out."

"She lied to me about why she was even going in the first place. She left out the part where you had asked her to go with you." This surprised him and it must of shown on his face because Finn snorted, though there was no humor in it. "What else has she been lying to me about where you are concerned?"

"I don't know, and it isn't for me to tell even if I did. Look I know that right now you are more than just a little mad at her, but no one can find her right now and there are a lot of worried people back in London. Where was she the last time you saw her?"

The hotel, she had still been at the hotel. Why hadn't anyone thought to look there for her? After Finn had shut the door in his face, he pulled the paper clip from his pocket and closed his fingers around it once more and was swept away back to London. When he had gotten to the hotel, he headed straight up to the room Finn had said they had been staying in, he knocked for what felt like forever before finally pulling his wand from his pocket and letting himself in. He had never seen her look so broken, and that included the time his aunt had turned her wand on her at the manor during the war. It stirred something within him to see her this way. What he couldn't get out of his head though were the last words Finn had said before slamming the door in his face. 'I know who you are Draco Malfoy, does Emily?'

Was it possible that he did indeed know their secret, had Hermione told him? Was this part of their fight, and if she hadn't told him how did he know? Sure, it had been Finn who had told him of the legend when the painting surfaced, but how could he possible know that Draco was indeed Henry? He had never told a soul. Would Finn tell Emily? They had been friends for years, but there was no ways Finn could be certain that he was in fact Henry. Not unless…

He was pulled from his thoughts when the door to the bathroom opened and she emerged dressed her wet hair dripping onto the carpet. She looked a little more put together than she had when he had come, but only slightly. The food had come and was sitting over on the table, he stood and motioned for her to follow him.

"What time is it?" she asked as she set down.

"Nearly six." He answered softly as he moved the chicken and mashed potato's towards her hoping it smelled good enough to entice her appetite. "Are you sure you don't want me to call Potter and his wife?"

"I don't want to see anyone Draco. I want to stay here and wallow in my own self pity for at least the rest of the night before I have to face the rest of the world tomorrow."

"Have you found a flat yet?"

"No"

"Then come stay at the townhome I have here."

"I couldn't impose on you that way." She said

"I am going back to New York tomorrow, being a way for a week is long enough, I will be traveling back and forth as needed from here on out. So, you staying till you find a flat wont be imposing on me."

"I can just stay with Harry and Ginny." She said arguing, not with much effort but still arguing.

"You will have the place to yourself." He could tell she wanted to argue some more with him but she didn't and just nodded her head in agreement.

"Fine, you win." She said finally taking a bit of the chicken in front of her.

"It will get better you know; it won't always feel like this." He said softly.

"How would you know? You turned part of yourself off so you wouldn't feel the pain, and you haven't lost the person you have fallen for since that time."

"Time makes everything better, time heals all wounds." This was a loud of shit, he knew this and he knew she knew this as well. But she didn't call him on it, she didn't have the energy to. Time didn't heal all wounds the two of them were the prime example of how untrue hat statement was.

He stayed long enough to make sure she had eaten at least half of her meal, before standing to go. "The Ministry's floo is connected to the house and I will leave a key for you on the entry way table." She nodded her head slightly in way of acknowledgment of his words. He didn't wait for her to say anything before heading to the door. He knew when he wasn't needed.

"Draco." She said softly as he reached for the doorknob, he turned to look at her.

"Thank you."

"Always." And with that he was gone.

When the door clicked closed, she was once more alone, just her and Helena. She wanted to believe him that time would make it all better, that maybe in time Finn would be able to forgive her and they could pick up where they left off. Helena shook her head at her, as if to say, 'Sweetie don't get your hopes up on that account.'. All she could do now was hope he was right and hope that one day it would all make since. For now she had to put one foot and front of the other and get her back to her life, it wouldn't stay on hold forever, too many people counted on her. She reached for her phone and turned it back on, there was twenty two voicemails, thirty texts messages, but none of them were from the one person she wanted to hear from the most.


	16. Chapter 16

When things in her life took a turn for the worse Hermione did the one thing she did best, work. If you were busy you didn't have time to dwell on the things you couldn't change. It had been a week since Finn had left for New York, and she hadn't heard from him once. She hadn't really expected to hear from him but with each passing day the hallow feeling within grew larger. She had taken to sleeping in her office most of the week, she had spent one night at the flat Draco had offered her. The utter feeling of loneliness was too much to handle, the next morning she had headed into the office and hadn't left since.

She of course was hiding the fact she was sleeping in her office from everyone, she knew if Harry knew he would demand she stay with him and Ginny, but she couldn't, being around happy people was too much to handle. So she would tell everyone she was working late, and when they were gone, she would transfigure her desk chair into a cot, she would be up hours before any Ministry workers came into the office, slip down stairs to the Auror office and take a shower in the locker rooms before heading back to start her day. She knew she couldn't keep this up, but for now it was working for her. It was Friday though and she knew that she was going to have to figure something else out for the weekend. Maybe the Leaky Caldron.

Draco had left the day after he had found her in the hotel room, and like Finn she hadn't heard from him either. This unsettled her, well Helena at any rate. She had been working on the visa's his employees were going to need when work started in the London office's in a few weeks' time. It had been decided that each member of staff would be given a personal port key that would allow them to travel from New York to London on daily basis. It would be asking to much for all his employees to move, and England didn't have enough potion brewers as it was. For now, this would be the best solution. Over seeing all of this and working closely with Magical Transportation department was no easy task. Not to mention all the other things Kingsley and Percy had her working on, it kept her busy though, and being busy was what she needed to keep her mind off her dismal personal life at the moment.

"Hermione, Hogwarts wants to know when you will be heading there to make the arrangements for the gala?" it was Percy, he had stuck his head around her office door.

"See if they have time to meet with me over the weekend." She said not looking up from the paperwork that was sitting in front of her.

"I am not your secretary Granger." Percy said in a clipped tone.

"Yeah well, I should be sitting in an office in New York right now, but I am not. I am here dealing with things that should have been dealt with weeks ago." She said in a tone that matched his own.

"I'll ask." He said before leaving her to her bad mood. If she went up the school, she could stay at the Three Broom Stick's she thought once he was gone.

By noon she had gotten word that a meeting for tomorrow morning had been set to go over plans for the gala. She thanked her assistant before sending her on her way but not before asking if she could run down to the canteen to grab her a sandwich. Ideal minds meant dwelling on the things one couldn't change she reminded herself.

It wasn't till six when Harry walked into her office did she look up from the work in front of her. "Ok, we have given you the week." He said when he took the chair in front of her desk.

"Harry I am fine." She said in a tone that would fool no one.

"You are not fine, so I don't know why you a pretending to be."

"It's just a break-up, it isn't the first one and I am sure it won't be the last."

"It is ok to not be ok. You do know, that right? You really liked this guy, it's ok to be upset that it is over."

"I just can't get the look on his face out of my head." Hermione said rubbing her eyes as if it would make the image go away somehow. "I hurt him, I lied to him Harry."

"Why even do it in the first place." Ginny had asked her the same thing when they had talked the night before. "Aren't they friends?"

"I don't know, I just felt like somehow my friendship with Draco was like I was cheating on Finn, I know it sounds ridiculous."

"Do you like him? Draco I mean."

"What no of course not. We became friends, it was nice to have someone from back home, even if it was Malfoy."

"Hermione," he gave her one of those looks as if say he didn't believe her. "With everything from the past you can honestly say that you have no feelings for him outside of friendship."

"It's complicated Harry. Yes we are entangled in this stupid curse, but that isn't us who we are now. Besides I turned Helena off months ago before we started to get to know each other. They have nothing to do with this." She didn't mention that Helena had been keeping her company in her head for the last week, he didn't need to know that.

"I think they have everything to do with this. You are afraid for anyone to find out just how connected you are to him. And I think the fact that Finn knows the legend of the two of you, you are even more afraid. How can you let someone in if they don't know the whole picture, if you don't let me know all of you." He gave her a sad smile, he more than anyone knew what it was like to be caught up in something so much bigger than just yourself.

"You are right."

"Have you talked to either of them this week?"

"No, I don't think Finn ever wants to talk to me again and I think Draco is trying to give me space."

"Maybe you should try calling Finn."

"I don't think that is a good idea."

"Aside from all of your personal issues, you two will be presenting the Auror Army in a few weeks at the Conference. Don't you think that maybe you should be on the same page with that?"

"Kingsley told me today that he and Emily would take care of the presentation to the Confederation when he came in this morning to tell me that my things from New York would be arriving on Monday."

"Do you think he knows?"

"Knows that we had a personal relationship, maybe but if he does he didn't let on. He said that we had done some great work on getting it this far, but they would take over to get to the finish line. We would get credit if it is passed of course for our hard work, but we won't be privy to the goings on of the conference."

"Typical." Harry said with a frown. "Are you heading up to Hogsmead tonight? I heard Percy talking about the meeting set for Hogwarts in the morning."

"That's the plan, I still have a little work I am trying to get done here before I go."

"Hermione, I think you should call it a night. It will all be here waiting for you on Monday. You had a long week."

"I won't be much longer I promise. Why don't you and Ginny come up dinner tomorrow."

"I know you have been sleeping in your office all week." All she could do was look guilty, there was nothing she could say. She had hoped she had hide it better than she obviously did but it is what it is. "I won't ask you why, or why you wouldn't just come stay with us, but working yourself to the bone won't make it all go away. You still have to deal with it, hiding away in a hotel room and bearing yourself in work isn't going to work. You have to feel the pain for it to start to heal."

"When did you become so wise Mr. Potter?" she said with a sad smile.

"Not really sure." He wore a half smile as he stood and headed for the door. "Ginny and I will be there for dinner. Just let us know what time." He said before walking out.

Hermione looked around the office and sighed, he was right. She was going to have to feel it all before she could think about healing. Even the thought of it made her heart hurt as she started to gather her things, knowing Harry would send one of the guards in after her if she didn't leave now, she started gathering the things she was going to need for tomorrow before heading out for the weekend.

Escaping London seemed to help as she checked herself in at the three broom sticks and got settled for the night. Being back here so close to the school brought back some of the memories from when Helena first appeared in her waking conscious. She had been terrified in those days, the threat of war loomed closer with each passing day. It had taken her a few weeks, but she had figured out Draco was Henry and it made her heart hurt. The boy who loved to torment her was gone but was replaced with someone she didn't recognize, and it scared her, Harry was obsessed with figuring out what he was up too convinced that he had become a death eater. It would turn out that he was right of course in the end. All of this though had made her decision easier, she knew that even when Henry awoke in Draco it wouldn't change anything not really, maybe it would change the way he felt about her, but it wouldn't change the positions they had both been put in. It was classic catch twenty-two, they were damned if they did and damned if they didn't.

She had broken her own heart that day though, when she had sent him away. He was lost and he needed someone to lead him back to the light, and she could have been that person for him, but she wouldn't allow it of herself. At the time the person he was didn't deserve it, and she couldn't afford to allow herself to do it, a part of her may have loved him then but she had to put distance between them or they would be stuck where they had always been, limbo.

She thought about what Harry had asked, why she had kept it from Finn, her budding friendship with Draco, she had known all a long it was silly to do so. There was something about this version of him though that had drawn her in, she knew the moment she saw him that day outside of Emily's office. This Draco was worthy of her, this Draco could make her fall in love with him, outside of who they were as Helena and Henry. That's scared her, because if she allowed herself to do so, she would never be able to stay away. But even with all her careful planning she had fallen for the blonde. It was way she couldn't be honest with Finn, why she couldn't be honest with herself. This time she couldn't blame Henry or Helena for it, she had cut that connection off, no she Hermione Granger had started to fall for the boy who haunted her childhood. She wanted so badly for it work with Finn, he was great they had no history, they could start fresh with a clean slate. While she sat there, and mulled over the things she hadn't allowed herself to think of all week she realized that the pain she felt wasn't because Finn had left, but because she realized somewhere deep down, she would never be able to make it work with Finn or with anyone else for that matter was because it had always been Draco, in every life. It would always be just him and she had pushed him away finally and she wasn't sure she would be able to get him back.

He had fallen in love with Emily after all, which was something she had never been able to do. Sure, she liked Finn a lot. She liked the way he made her feel, the idea of him was what had drawn her to him, but she didn't love him and she didn't think that given all the time in the world she would ever be able to say that she loved him. Finally admitting all of this to herself she allowed the pain to overtake her as she fell into a fitful sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

Draco awoke with a start as if he had just been splashed with a cold bucket of water. It took him a moment to register what was going on around him. He had been dreaming of Hermione when he awoke, something he had been doing rather a lot of over the last few days. He paid for it each morning as the guilt overtook him when he awoke lying next to Emily. This time it was different though, he could feel the pain she was in, not physical but emotional pain. Pain she was causing herself, it took him a little longer to realize that if he could feel her pain it was because she had reconnected herself to Helena, and that in doing so it fixed what he had broken in himself. There was an ocean between them though at the moment and he had never felt her this strongly before.

He looked over to Emily who was still sleeping soundly and felt the guilt start to take root once again, he was being unfair to her. He had always been unfair to her, by not telling her the whole truth. Finn's words had been echoing in his head all week. 'I know who you really are Draco'. What did that mean? He had long suspected that Emily might be the one who could at long last break the spell, but could he be wrong? It all fit if it was her, he did love her, like he had loved Cassandra, but he knew deep down that if Hermione asked it of him he would leave her. She would never ask that though, she had learned her lesson all those years ago. He could feel her now though more clearly than he had every been able to feel her before, and it scared him. She was in pain, and the only thing he wanted to do at the moment was to go to her, everything else be damned. He stood from the bed and walked over to the window, the city below was still ablaze with lights, it was just past midnight which meant a new day had started to dawn. He closed his eyes and concentrated on Hermione, he could see the snow cover mountains that surrounded Hogwarts, he could see the little inn where she was staying and could clearly see the room in which she now laid. It was almost dawn there, and he wondered why she was there and not the flat in London.

He had so many questions he wasn't going to get answered if he continued to stand there. As quietly as possible as to not disturb Emily from her sleep he moved around the room and dressed. If she woke up now, she would have to many question he wouldn't be able to answer. He reached into the pocket of the pants he had worn yesterday and pulled out the small paper clip Potter had given him, he had started to carrying it with him everywhere he went, he hadn't been able to understand why till now. He had seen a change in her Monday when he had found her in the hotel room, but he had thought that it was because she was hurting, but now he thought it might have been the presence of Helena, he just didn't see it right away. Maybe he hadn't wanted to, or maybe because it had been months since he had seen the other witch within Hermione. He could now feel Henry pushing him towards her, he could feel himself being pulled by unseen force. He cast a quick spell on the paper clip, the same one he had seen Potter use on it, he counted to five before he felt the jerk behind his navel.

When his feet touched the ground again, he was standing on the landing of the second floor of the Three Broom Sticks. In front of him was the door he had seen in his mind, slowly he moved closer to it and took a deep breath, if he went in there a part of him knew there would be no going back. He wasn't sure if he was ready for that, but the pull he felt within side of himself told him he had no choice. She was a magnet that he would always be pulled towards.

He knocked on the door, he knew she was awake, he could feel it. There was no answer, so he knocked again this time with a little more force than what was really needed. After a second he could hear soft footsteps behind the door, and a moment later the door opened to reveal Hermione who stood there with a surprised look on her face as she stared back at him. There were tear stains on her cheeks, yet she still looked as beautiful as ever.

"Hi." He said gently.

"Hi." She whispered back as she moved to the side so he could pass her into the room. When the door was closed, he turned back to look at her. "What are you doing here?

"I don't know, I woke up and I felt this pull."

"You shouldn't have come." She said sadly as she moved back to the bed and sat down on it.

"Why not."

"Because, it makes it harder." He could hear the pain in her voice as it cracked. The room was still dark, but he suspected there were more tears.

"It makes what harder?" he knew what it was that she wanted to say but wouldn't allow herself to say, but he needed to hear her say it aloud.

"To deny it." She said softly.

He didn't move from where he stood, she was going to have to do better than that. If he was about throw it all the hell she was going to have to come out and say. "What is it that you are trying to deny."

"How I feel."

"And how do you feel exactly." She didn't say anything, but let the silence fill the room. "You have to tell me, I can feel it, but I need you to tell me."

"I love you." He had waited so long to hear her say those three little words, he hadn't thought he would ever hear them come from her mouth. She had just said them though and the sound of them did things to him that he knew it wouldn't be able to contain.

"Say it again." He said softly.

"I love you."

He couldn't keep himself rooted to the spot any longer, he knew what he was about to do was wrong, not because he didn't want it with every fiber of his being, but because he did want it. He had wanted it since was sixteen years old. What was wrong was that he had someone back home who deserved more from him, but he couldn't stop himself from going to her and pulling her up from the bed and wrapping his arms around her and kissing her with every bit of passion he had in him. It was better than he ever thought it could be, she tasted of sunshine of and mint, and soon he was so consumed with her that he didn't know where he ended and where she began.

She pulled away and pushed him back just a bit and looked up at him. "We can't do this." She said a sob.

"Why not." He said a little breathless.

"There are million reason."

"I am not going to let you push me away this time Hermione."

He kissed her again, this time with more need than he had before, none it mattered anymore, all the reasons she had used to keep him away. He could feel the way she felt about him, it was the same he felt about her. He had spent months watching her before and after the war, he had fallen in love with her a long time ago and he would be damned if she was going to push him away this time around. He pulled away this time and pressed his forehead to hers "It will always be you; don't you see that."

"What about Emily, what about your life in New York."

"I should have ended things with her when you walked back into my life, if the time and the distance hadn't truly changed the way I feel, I should have known then, but you were so adamant. I will end it with Emily right now if that is what you want. As for my life in New York…it was only ever a means to keep my distance from you. I don't think I can stay away any longer Hermione, home is wherever you are."

"I can't ask you to do that." The tears were back but he wiped them away.

"You aren't asking."

"Draco." She whispered.

"I love you too Hermione, not because some curse makes me or because I compelled to. I just do, and I have for a long time longer than Henry has been apart of me."

She looked stunned by this revelation "Draco don't."

He kissed her again because now that he had he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to get enough of her, but he knew that he needed to do the honorable thing before this went any further. He didn't want a dark cloud hanging over their heads. Pulling away once more he looked deep into her eyes. "I am going to end it with Emily. Today, and when I come back I need to know you are going to be here."

"I'll be here." She said.

He stepped back and headed for the door. "I'll be back before your meeting is over. Tell Potter I am coming for dinner." Even in the darkness he could see her smile at the last part. He slipped back out through the door. Once back on the landing he took a deep breath before pulling the paper clip out of his pocket.

When he was back in the apartment in New York he looked over to the clock, it was just after two, it would be hours before Emily was awake. A part of him wanted to wake her and do it now, but he knew that would be just to cruel of him. He had already been unfair to her, instead he made himself a pot of coffee, and set about packing his things. He knew he wouldn't be staying in New York, not now and even if he did, he would allow her to keep this apartment if she wanted it. It was the least that he could do, seeing as he was the one who was ending it.

He knew he was about to break her heart; it made his own heart tighten in his chest, but he knew that this was the right thing to do and should have done it already. He should have never allowed things to go this far. He had been selfish though, because he hadn't wanted to be a lone. It was just another unkindness that was his fault. He hoped that with time she would see that this was for the best. She deserved more than what he could give her.

By eight he had packed away most of his things and shrunk them down so they would fit into a suitcase. He could hear her alarm go off, he prepared himself for what he was about to do. It was half past the hour before she came out of them room and headed into the kitchen. She smiled at him when she saw him sitting at the table before moving to get herself a cup of coffee from the pot.

"You are up early. You don't have to go into the office, do you? You know we have lunch with my mother."

"Emily." He said softly, she hadn't yet noticed his things from around the flat missing or the suitcase that stood next to him.

"I know, I am sorry, but we still have a few things to go over for the wedding." Those words were like a gut punch, he had forgotten about their lunch plans, but it didn't change what he was about to do. He had let it go on long enough.

"Emily." He said again, she turned to look at him, she must have seen the suitcase because her smile faded as she stood there. "We need to talk."

She closed her eyes for a moment before setting the mug in her hand back on the counter. She didn't move from her spot as she slowly breathed in and then out. "You are leaving?" she said softly still not able to look at him.

"Yes." He could see the beautiful strong woman he had grown to love start to break. "Because I have too." He said softly.

"It's because of her isn't it?" there was no bitterness in her tone, just profound sadness. "I have known for a long time there was someone who still held on to your heart, someone from your past. I just didn't realize who it was until she came here."

He wasn't surprised that she had been able to work it out for herself who it was, he had never hid it well when Hermione was around, but Emily never said anything and he supposed it was because she didn't want to see it. "I am sorry, Em. I can't marry you; it wouldn't be fair to either of us."

"Why now?"

"I have been to much of a coward to admit any of this to you till now, and I can't let this go on any longer."

"Did you have an affair with her while she was here? Is that why she and Finn didn't work out? Did he figure it out?"

"It wasn't a physical affair if that is what you are getting at, but I won't lie to you, we did spend a lot of time together while she was here."

"What if I begged you to stay? Would you?"

"Begging isn't your style and you know it. But there isn't anything you could say that would get me to stay. I do love you Emily, and I have loved my life with you, you have made me a better man, but I don't love you the way you should be loved, and I won't ever be able to love you that way."

"So, I made you a better man for her?" the irony wasn't lost on him, yes she had made he a better man, she had believed in him, and because of that he went for his dreams and he made something of himself.

"You made me a better person for me, not for her."

"Are you going to London?" she asked because she couldn't help herself.

"Yes."

"Then go…because I don't think I can stand to look at you for a second longer." He wanted to go and comfort her, but he knew that was no longer his job, and how could he possible offer her comfort when he was the one that was breaking her.

"I am truly sorry Emily. I wish I could take it all back." He said before he stood and took hold of the waiting suitcase.

"Goodbye Draco." She said with a sob.

"Goodbye Em."

Without another word he walked out the door, leaving behind everything he had spent the last five years building. He was leaving it all behind for her.

Author note: I know that I have been gone for more than just a few months. Sometimes life gets in the way, I hope you have enjoyed the last three chapter's. Currently working on chapter 18, and hoped to have that posted in the next few days. Thanks for sticking with me.


	18. Chapter 18

After Draco had left her small room that morning Hermione began to feel a little hope start to bubble up within. Her brain was screaming at her that this was a bad idea to once again open this door, but her heart told her to have a little faith that it would all be ok. She would endure a hundred more lives its meant that she got to hold on to him. Though she had never experienced the type of passion that she often would see color Helena's memory's she knew that it ran deep, Finn had been a passionate lover, but just the kiss from Draco had the blood in her veins singing. She had no idea what she had been depriving herself of, and she wasn't sure she would be able to deprive herself any longer now that she had a taste of it.

At eight o'clock on the dot Hermione found herself standing in the entrance hall of the ancient school waiting for the Head Mistress to appear, she took a moment to look around the old school and smiled to herself at the familiar scent of the castle. She had only been back on a few occasions in the last five years, and most days she found herself missing this place. This was where she had found herself as a witch, where she had come to terms with her future, where she made some of her best friends, she had lost friends here, but she tried not to dwell to often on memory's from that night. This place would always be a home away from home and had helped shaped her into the witch she was today and for that it would always hold a special place in her heart.

"Ms. Granger." Professor McGonagall said from behind her.

Hermione turned and smiled at her old teacher "I think you can call me Hermione don't you Professor." She said as she made her way over to her old teacher.

"My dear girl no matter how old you get you will always be one of my charges. How are you? I heard you have just returned from a post in New York." Hermione could see her old professor still wore her hard exterior but under that she could see the women's softer side showing through.

"I am good, thank you. I have returned, I wasn't there long but my time there was well spent." Hermione had no desire nor the time to tell her more than this.

"Wonderful, well if you will follow me, I will introduce you to the Head Boy and Girl. They will after all see to most of the arrangements with the staff for the upcoming gala."

"I will follow your lead Professor." She said and allowed McGonagall to lead the way.

The meeting was a productive one, there was no doubt when it came to McGonagall though. The gala was to take place the last evening of the conference on the Hogwarts grounds. Seeing as the winter term would still be in session, they thought it would be best of the evening's events were to take place on the grounds. Warming charms around the tent that would be erected could be used to keep the guest warm throughout the evening. The wait staff would be Hogwarts seventh years students who would be entering the work force at the end of the school year.

It had taken a few hours, but the finer details had all be worked out, from the decorations, to the food, seating arrangements and who the speakers would be. Hermione was looking forward to pulling this off the Ministry as away of saying 'Hey look us, we are doing just fine.' She thought Kinsley would be proud when he saw the final product.

McGonagall had asked her to stay for lunch, but she politely declined but not before promising to make it back up to the school before the gala in a few weeks. With that done she finally felt a little better about the tasks she had been given as far as the conference was concerned. She knew ministry had a lot riding on this, and she would do her best to make sure everything in her power was done to make it great.

On the walk back down to from the school, she became nervous. Draco had told her that he would be back before her meeting was over, but what he if wasn't? What if he had changed his mind when he had gotten home and seen Emily? What would she do then? She wasn't sure when it had happened, when she had fallen for the one man, she had tried her hardest to keep a distance from. Maybe it was that first day in central park when she had been given her first glimpse of who he had become, or maybe it was over the many coffee's they shared at the little shop not far from her apartment. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew now looking back at her time in New York, she may have been spending most of her time with another man, but she looked forward to her time with Draco, and somewhere a long the way had fallen for the man.

He wasn't the boy she had gone to school with, he was kind, smart, ambitious, he was handsome now that he had grown out of his sharp features and had put on some weight. He made her feel like she was at home, and it had nothing to do with their surroundings and everything to do with him.

When she reached the door to her room, she stopped for a moment and took a deep breath and prepared herself for the chance that he wasn't there, that he wasn't coming back before she reached out and turned to nob and pushing the door open. She needn't have worried though because there he was sitting on the bed propped up against the headboard reading a book.

When the door opened, he looked up to see her come in, he smiled a radiant smile at her before leaping from his spot on the bed and moving towards her. Closing the door behind her she met him halfway throwing her arms around his neck as his own encircled her waist.

"I was afraid you wouldn't come back." She admitted softly as she kissed his cheek.

"Nothing could keep me away now." He murmured into her ear.

"I'm sorry I have kept you away for so long, I just was so…" she said but couldn't find the words to finish.

"Afraid." But he finished them for her.

"I am still scared, of the future, of the curse. I can't let the fear stand in my way or cloud my judgment any longer. I would live for a thousand more years if it means having you." She kissed him this time, not able to hold it back any longer. Watching him go this morning had been the hardest thing she had done in a very long time. Now that he was here though, she didn't think she would ever be able to be so far away from him again.

For the first time she could feel him, not just in her arms but could feel his presence within her soul. She could feel the happiness rolling off him, she could taste excitement, she could feel the guilt he carried. For the first time she could understand how it was that he felt her. He pulled away for just a moment to whisper, "I told you, it will always be you." before he claimed her lips as his.

It would be hours before either of them came up for air again, they had spent to much time apart. They didn't need words though for them to know what the other was trying to say to the other, they could say it with a touch or a feeling. It was truly a beautiful thing she thought. It wasn't till her phone rang that she had been able to pull her lips from his.

It was Harry, she had never confirmed dinner. She wanted to ignore it, she did ignore it the first time it rang, but her best friend was determined. When he called for the second time, she knew she had better answer it unless she wanted Harry Potter to beat down her door.

"Hello Harry." She said when she answered the phone.

"What are you doing. You sound like you have just run a marathon." He said in his all to inquisitive tone.

"Nothing."

"Right, well when did you want me and Ginny to meet you for dinner?"

She looked over to Draco who only nodded his head "We thought we would come back into London and meet you guys there." She said closing her eyes.

"We?" her best friend asked

"Draco is here." She said opening her eyes so she could stare into his silver orbs. Her friend was silent on the other end of line for a moment.

"Something has drastically changed hasn't it?" he finally asked.

"You could say that." She admitted to her friend.

"I am going to have to learn to like the ferret, aren't I?" he asked with a sigh.

"It might help if you didn't refer to him as the ferret Harry." She said with a smile.

"Bugger."

"Why don't we meet you at the little Fish and Chips place we like, say in one hour." She said when her friend had nothing else to say.

"Ok." He was silent for a moment before "What do I tell Ginny?"

"Everything Harry, tell her everything."

"Ok."

She hung up the phone before turning back to Draco who had been silent the whole conversation. She smiled "So, it looks like we are heading back to London tonight after all."

"Well not that I don't find these accommodations rather nice, it will be nice to sleep in a bed tonight that doesn't have so many lumps."

Her smile faded just slightly. "I think I should stay with Harry and Ginny tonight."

"Why?" he couldn't help the surprised look that passed across his handsome features.

"Because we should take this slow, you just broke up with your fiancé this morning. I would feel like we were be disrespecting her if I stayed with you tonight."

"You aren't changing your mind are you." He asked in a serious tone.

"No, I am not, I just know that if I stay with you tonight, we will push things to far to fast."

"So, you promise you aren't changing your mind."

"It will always be you." She whispered to him.

…..

Dinner with Harry and Ginny had gone better than Hermione had hoped. It helped Harry and Draco had been made to be civil with one another on more than one occasion in the last few months. As for Ginny well she was opened to the idea of Malfoy being around on a more permeant basis if he made Hermione happy. Hermione thought the two might even end up friends. Harry would be a little toucher to crack but she wasn't to worried, Ron on the other hand was going to be a totally different story.

It had taken all the willpower Hermione had to not return to Draco's brownstone with him. She had made herself a promise though and she meant to keep it. They didn't need to rush into anything they had the rest of their lives to jump headfirst into whatever this thing was between them.

Seeing as it was Ginny's off-season for the Holyhead harpies both women had waited for Harry to go to bed so they could have a private chat. They were sitting at the small island in the kitchen both nursing a glass of white wine. Hermione could tell the Ginny was having a hard time keeping all her questions to herself during dinner. She gave the redhead credit though; she had kept it together and looked only mildly interested in the change of events going on in her best friend life.

"Why did you never feel like you could tell me?" Ginny asked when she was sure that Harry was out for the night.

"I don't know Gin I hadn't been able to tell anybody. I was afraid of what people would think, I was afraid they wouldn't understand. It's a lot to take in. I mean can you imagine how Ron is going to react when I tell him? I am me, but I am also someone else. I can't even really explain it, the only person who understands…"

"Is Malfoy." Ginny finished for her. "It's kind of romantic you have to admit." She smiled at her friend.

"I think it's more sad than romantic Gin. But I know now, no matter how sad or tragic the situation might be it will always be him."

"Harry told me Malfoy thought that the two of you were soulmates, but that you didn't believe in soulmates. Have you changed your mind?"

Hermione thought about that for a moment. Had her opinion on soulmates changed? "I think it's just more complicated than that Gin. Henry and Helena, they were soulmates their love is kismet. The love that they shared was profound, it has spanned four centuries." She could at the very least admit that much. She was sure though that she loved Draco for who he was outside of Henry, but was it because of Henry that she was so drawn to him? If there had been no Helena would she and Draco still ended up together.

"What are you guys going to do now?" Ginny asked softly. Hermione hadn't answered her question not completely, but she didn't push, she wasn't sure her friend had that answer yet.

" We're just going to figure it out as we go along. For the first time in my life I don't want to try and plan every little detail, I just want to see where this thing between us goes. I don't want to think about the curse or the people we have hurt to get here. I just want to live in the moment with him."

…..

It had been exactly one week since Draco had moved back to London full time. Most morning's he had to pop over via port key to his office in New York to deal with some last-minute business that couldn't wait. The time required in the office there had shorten day by day, and the launch of the new brewing operation was just a few days away. Things were defiantly on track for Draco to be able to spend most of his work week here in London.

The ministry had just one week to go before the confederations' wizards would start to descend on London. With the lodging squared away, and the gala event at Hogwarts nearly all wrapped up in its planning stage, Hermione found her to do list was slowly shrinking. Which meant she was left with more free time, she was enjoying the time she spent with Draco. Whether they were alone or at his new London office in the afternoon trying to get things squared away before his staff started to arrive.

Neither of them had broached the subject of what they both left behind in the states. Neither wanted to be first to bust the little bubble they had been in since his return. They both knew however that time was fast approaching, and they would need to discuss it just so they could get through the confederations visit.

It was late Friday morning, Hermione had been able to slip away from the ministry just after eleven having wrapped up her week earlier than she had thought. Knowing that the staff of DM international would be arriving this coming Monday Hermione thought she would head over to the DM offices to see what she could help with. She had a surprise weekend for Draco planned up at her family's lake cabin as away of celebrating his successful business transition from the states to the UK. Not to mention she was ready to take what they had between them to the next level. What Hermione hadn't expected was for Fin to be there. She could tell the two men where in a heated argument, she leaned against the wall to try and keep herself concealed from the two men. She wasn't sure if her appearance would help or worsen the situation.

…..

"The stories are true, aren't they?" Fin asked his voiced raised in irritation. "You are a selfish son of bitch. Always taking what you want, what others think be damned.

"Fin, I never meant to become between you and Hermione. Honestly, all I have ever wanted was for her to be happy." Draco said his hands in his pocket.

"She was happy." Fin said stubbornly.

"You left her mate." Draco said trying not to sound accusing but the fact remained the same.

"She lied to me, she lied to me about you. What was I supposed to do? Just take that lying down. I needed some time and space to think about what was going to happen, how we would be able to move forward. But you, you don't even wait a week before you swoop in there and take what isn't yours, not to mention the fact that you broke the heart of one of the most amazing women I have ever met."

"Look there are things that you don't know or understand, me and Hermione it's complicated."

"You mean the fact that you are Henry and Helena Eason?" Fin had spit out.

Draco looked more than little surprised; he had suspected that Fin might know who they were but to have the verbal confirmation was a little unsettling. "How…?" he couldn't finish the thought, if Fin knew who they were there was only one reason as to why.

"The legend of the two lost lovers has been passed down from generation to generation in my family. Cassandra Thomas was my great-great-great-great- grandmother one my father's side."

He had been wrong, it wasn't Emily who held the power, it had been Fin and he had been blind to that possibility when Hermione had come to New York and caught the man's interest. "When did you figure out who I was?"

"The moment I met you, but I wasn't sure until the portrait appeared at the Met."

"You thought Emily was Helena, didn't you?" he asked the other man.

"I loved her it is true. Even after the split, I loved her. Then you came along, and I could see how happy you made her, I was content with letting the curse break. I had loved her enough to want her to be happy."

"Then Hermione came to New York."

"The moment I saw her standing at the welcome desk. Seeing her for the first time was like coming up for air even though hadn't noticed I had been deprived of it. She spellbound me instantly."

"Then you know how I feel about her." Draco said softly. "I never had a choice not really. It was always going to be her."

"You hated her before you knew who she really was. I know the stories Drake. You made her life hell before Henry came to the forefront. You can't stand there and tell me that you deserve Hermione more than I do."

"Fin, you don't know anything about how I felt for her before."

"Yeah well let's find out why don't we?" Fin said sardonically. "I release you from the ties that bind you to the past."

All at once Draco was hit with force of a dozen Dragons, he looked at Fin as if he couldn't believe what had just happened and then everything went black.

…

Hermione had watched the whole exchange between the two man, her breath caught her throat at Fin's admission of who he was and the power in which held over them. At his words she felt a stab of pain at her core, the pain was like nothing she had ever felt before, surpassing that of what she felt at the hands of Bellatix Lestrange's hands. It was as if something vital had been ripped from her. When the pain had receded, she felt hallow, Helena was gone as if she had never been there at all.

Draco laid on the ground at Fin's feet unconscious. She rushed from her hiding place to Draco who wasn't stirring. "What did you do?" she screamed at Fin when she reached the two men and knelt beside Draco checking for a pulse. It was there and strong, but the man was still out cold.

"I gave you chance to choose your own path in life. One that doesn't have to include this man if you don't want it to." Fin said there was no malice in his tone, just a sadness. "It's what you have always wanted isn't?"

It was true, she had spent years wishing that she could be free. Now she was, but she could never have predicted that she would feel so utterly alone. "Help get him to St. Mungo's." she said pulling out her wand.

"No, I wouldn't help him even if he was wizarding kinds only hope."

"How can you be so cruel?" she accused him.

Draco grunted and started to stir from he is spot on the floor. "What happened." he asked in what could only be described as a grunt.

"Draco," Hermione said breathlessly "Are you ok?"

He looked at her bewildered, as if he couldn't understand why she was here. "Granger?" he said confused "What are you doing here? And where is here?"

In the pit of her stomach Hermione knew something wasn't right, something was very wrong. Everything had just changed, and it would never be the same again.


	19. Chapter 19

It had been hours since Draco had been checked into St. Mungo's and there still was no word as to what was going on. Harry sat beside her in the waiting room, while she waited for the Healer's to come with some sort of news.

"What happened?" he finally asked seeing as she was finally calm enough to answer questions.

"When I got to the office Fin was already there, they were arguing. Fin told Draco that he knew who we were, that he had known all along. He said that Draco didn't deserve me and that the only reason Draco wanted to be with me was because of Henry. And then he said he released us from our past. I felt this stabbing pain and when it was gone…" Hermione couldn't find the words to finish.

"When it was gone?" he pushed needing to understand.

"So was Helena. It's like she never excited, I still have all of her memory's, I can still remember everything, but she gone. It's like this part of me is missing Harry, like I will never be whole again."

"And then what did Fin do? Why was even here? The American delegation isn't due to arrive till next week."

"I don't know why he is here, but as soon as Draco started to come around, he just left."

"I'll see if Ron can track him down." He said trying to reassure her.

"Why did it affect him differently?" she sounded desperate.

"I don't know the answer to that question, Hermione I wished I did."

A healer from the Janus Thickey Ward appeared beside them a moment later with a grim look about him. "You are the one who brought Mr. Malfoy in?" he asked as he took the seat next to her.

"Yes, how is he?" she asked a bit out breath. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it might just beat right out of her chest.

"How do you know Mr. Malfoy?" he asked.

"I am…" she didn't know how to respond. What was she to Draco? Was she his girlfriend? They hadn't put labels on what it was that they were.

"She is his girlfriend," Harry said saving her the trouble.

"It appears that Mr. Malfoy is suffering from short term memory loss, well sort of. He knows who he is, knows what day of the week it is and what month, but he can't remember why he was where he was. He knows he owns DM International, but he doesn't understand why he is in London when he should be in New York, and he keeps asking for his fiancé Emily Chamberlin."

Hermione's heart sank, if he thought Emily was still his fiancé it meant that he didn't remember her or at least not who she really was to him. "I don't understand, why can't he remember." Harry squeezed her hand gently as if to say it would be ok.

"I need to know more about what happened to him." the healer said softly "Before I will be able to understand how to help if I even can."

"Do you an office?" Hermione asked? "Because what I am about to tell you is going to sound crazy."

"Why don't you follow me back up to the ward we can have more privacy there."

She told this complete stranger everything, from how Henry and Helena had met, to the curse that Cassandra had placed on them, every life they had been forced to endure since. She told him of the portrait and the legend the American's told about the two lost lovers. How Fin who had been a descendent of Cassandra had released them of the bonds that connected them to the past. When she was done the healer looked more than a little shocked and skeptical. He had never seen a case like this before in his twenty years of healing and wasn't sure how to help or where to even start.

"But you say that you can still remember all of this." He asked

"I didn't black out, it was painful, but I didn't have the same reaction."

"I want to speak to this Fin person you have talked about. If he was able to break the curse, then maybe he knows more about what the original curse entailed."

"My people are looking for him now." Harry said.

"Until I can gather more information there isn't much, I can do for him except keep him under observation."

Hermione hung her head in defeat. She had been right everything had changed, and she didn't think it would ever be the same again.

Two weeks past and there had been no change in the state of Draco's memory. They had tracked Fin down, but he hadn't been able to tell them much of anything. It wasn't like his grandmother had written down the spell she had cast. Bill had stepped in to see what he could do to help, but without the original spell he could only guess that this was yet another punishment for them both. They would be free, but one would not remember, it was the ultimate way to tear the two apart.

The conference had come and gone; the task forced had been pushed through with a three quarters majority. Training was to start the day after Christmas, she had been given an accommodation for her hard work and a promotion to Deputy Head of International Magical Cooperation. The world kept spinning while she waited. Nothing however would prepare her for the final blow, the day after the conference was over Draco returned to New York with Emily.

She had everything she had wanted when moved to New York, she had gotten the promotion she had been working towards since she had started at the Ministry five years ago, she had been freed from what she once thought of as chains that connected her to a person she didn't want to be. Yet after getting what she had thought she wanted at one point she realized that all she ever wanted was to understand why. Now she did, and she wished none of this had never happened.

Eight Months Later

It had been a hell of a year for Hermione Granger that was for sure. Along with the new position came new responsibility's. For starters it meant more travel, she had been gone more in the last six months than she had been in the five years previous combined. She had traveled all around the world and back for the exception of the United States, anything that dealt with the US was handled by Percy who was head of department.

The work she was doing helped provided as a nice distraction from what was going on her personal life, which wasn't much of one outside of her closest friends. She hadn't dated since Draco had left with Emily, and she had no desire to start anytime soon. She was done with the love game, the only thing it had ever done was bring her misery. No, she was focused what was going on around the world and what she could do to make it a better place for future generations. When anything related Draco or his company came up in the paper, she tossed it into the trash not able to bring herself to read about what was going on in his life. She wouldn't let her friends talk about him in her company and most got the hint that anything to do with Draco was off limits. Hermione was moving on the only way she knew how.

Quidditch World Cup was only days away and Hermione's plate had been full for the last month trying to make sure everything was going to go off without a hitch. It was England vs. France and it was revving up to be one of the biggest World Cup's in history. The work had been nonstop for months, between finding the sight for the new stadium, all of the lodging accommodation's and international portkey's. The end was in sight though and Hermione promised herself a nice long holiday once it was all over with.

It was Thursday evening and Hermione was exhausted when she came through the Potter's fireplace. It had been months since she had moved out of their place and into her own small flat not too far away, but they still tried to have dinner together at least once a week. It had been Ginny and Harry who had gotten her through the worst of it. "Ginny…Harry," she called out from the small sitting room.

"In here," she heard Ginny call from what sounded like the kitchen. Hermione made her way down the small hall poking her head around the corner to make sure the coat was clear. She had walked in on them naked one to many times for her to not check to see if the coast was clear. It seemed though Harry wasn't home yet.

"Where is Harry?"

"Working late as usually, I can't wait for this stupid Cup to be over. He has worked so much overtime since England made the play off's last month. I am ready for everything to get back to normal."

"I will second that. I have been dealing with the French Minister all day long, the man is a piece of work." Hermione said laughing as she took the glass of wine Ginny offered her.

"Well it looks like it will just be you and me for dinner tonight." Ginny said with a smile. "We haven't had a girl's night in months, why don't we have dinner out."

"Can we do sushi please?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Only because I love you, and I know this week has been hell for the Ministry trying to get everything done in time." Ginny said with a smile. It was the true mark of their friendship, Ginny hated sushi but always caved when Hermione asked for it.

Thirty minutes later, they were sitting at her favorite sushi bar at a table near the back. Ginny had been right it had been ages since they had a night just to themselves. Hermione had just started to dig into her first roll when Ginny made a face, while she looked at something over her shoulder. "Come on Gin you can't make that face every time someone east a piece of raw fish." She laughed turned to see what Ginny had been looking at.

Her heart stopped the moment as her eyes landed on the tall blonde man who had just walked through the door with Blaise Zabini. To say she was unprepared to see him was an understatement, she quickly turned around and ducked her head. "What is here doing?" she whispered to Ginny.

"World Cup probably." Ginny said still watching the two men who had chosen a table three rows over from them.

"I am so stupid, of course he would come for the cup. Why didn't I think that was a possibility?"

"Because you have tried to avoid all thoughts of him since December." Hermione shot her a glare. "Well you have, you won't let any of us talk about what happened, and you sure as hell aren't looking into what has been going on with him. The cup doesn't explain why he is in muggle London though."

"I brought him here once, the day we found the office space for DM international."

"That would mean…" Ginny said softly.

"I doesn't mean a damn thing Ginny."

"Should we go over there and say hello." She asked Hermione.

"Heaven's no, it has been eight months of radio silence. Besides he doesn't remember, and I am not about to go over there and make a full of myself. Merlin only knows what Emily told him once they were back in New York."

"They broke up." Ginny rushed out as if she had been dying to tell Hermione this for months, which of course she had.

"What?"

"In February, it was all over the American papers. He has been living back in London full time for nearly a month now."

"How do you know what the American papers had to say about them."

"Well I may or may not have found a way to have them delivered internationally."

"And you have kept this to yourself for the last six months."

"Merlin no, I told Harry and Ron and of course George you know he is a big gossip." Ginny laughed but then stopped when she saw the look on Hermione's face. "Look, I did what you asked, I didn't mention him, and no one has talked about what happened in months. I just wanted to keep tabs on him, for your sake."

"Have they seen us?" Hermione asked when she had no comeback.

"No, I don't think so."

"Good, now let's get out of here before they do. I have too much to deal with right now and the last thing I need is a run in with Draco Malfoy."

….

It was almost elven when Hermione got home from Harry and Ginny's, after taking the rest of their order to go Hermione and Ginny high tailed it out the little restaurant before they were seen. The amount of wine Hermione consumed after getting back to Ginny's place was a new record for her, and yet it had done very little too dull the throbbing pain that had settled in the middle of her chest at the sight of him.

She had been to busy rummaging around her in her purse for her keys to notice the man sitting on her front stoop until she was right in front of him. Her breath hitched as she looked down at the one man she hadn't been able to forget since she was sixteen. "Hi," she said when it was clear he wasn't going to speak.

"Hi." He said standing front his spot on her front step.

"What are you doing here?" she felt lightheaded from all the wine and was having a hard time trying to focus on the fact she was face to face with him for the first time since everything had happened.

"I saw you tonight, but you rushed out of there before I could speak to you." He said as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Oh." Was all she could manage as they stood there and stared at each other.

"Look I have wanted to approach you since I came back to London I just didn't know how."

"How did you know where I lived?" she asked because she wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond to his last comment.

"Potter." Of course, Harry would get involved, the damn man didn't know how to keep his nose out of her business. "Before you get mad at him for telling me just know that he didn't want too. But you are the only one with the answers that I am looking for."

"Why don't you come in." she said moving past him to make her way up the steps and to open the door. He followed behind her silently, as she made her way into the small two bedroom flat she had bought after her promotion. Dropping her bag and coat by the door she made her way through the small sitting room and towards the kitchen where she pulled a bottle of wine from the small shelf and a glass. "Can I offer you anything to drink?"

"Wine is fine." He said before perching himself on one of the stools at the island that sat in the middle of the kitchen. Taking another glass from the shelf she opened the bottle and poured a little into each glass.

"What is that you want to know." She asked after placing the glass in front of him.

"I feel like something vital is missing," he said looking into the glass of wine as if it held all the answers he was looking for. "Like this piece of me has been misplaced but I don't know where to begin to look for it, I just know that every time I think about it, it leads me to you.'

She couldn't remember a time in which he looked more somber. He looked like person who had lost his way and didn't know to get back. "What if I told you that you and I go way beyond just rivals from Hogwarts." She said after a moment it been eight months since that day at the DM offices, eight months since everything had changed. Though she had tried to lock all the bad memory's away there was no escaping what the two of them had shared no matter how short of a time it had been this time around.

"What do you mean."

"When I was in America, I was told a story about a young couple who had lived centuries ago, a witch and a wizard who had fallen in love. He was promised to another to another witch though." She began to play story of Helena and Henry in her head once more as she spoke, she could feel the emotions that they had felt she could almost smell that spring morning in that lavender field. "He didn't care though because he had found his one true love, and on the day of his wedding he ran away with her. The bride he had left behind was heart broken so she set a curse into motion that would last centuries."

"Sounds tragic." He mused as he took a sip from the glass finally deciding that it wouldn't be able to give him the answers he was looking for.

"It was." She said simply taking sip from her own glass and turning to look out the dark window, as if not looking at him would make this moment any easier.

"What happened to them?"

"Though their human flesh was long dead, their souls lived on, when they were reborn in each new life they would once again find each other but only to be ripped apart once more."

"What were their names?"

"Henry and Helena Eason."

"Did they ever find peace?" he asked softly as if he might already know the answer but hoped he was wrong.

"No, they haven't. Or at least I don't think they did."

"You talk as if you knew them." His voice was soft as if he was waiting for the final blow.

"I do or I did." When he looked confused, she went on "I am Helena or rather I was Helena before the curse was broken.

"None of this explains why I feel like I am missing a piece of myself Granger," he said in a clipped tone she had heard him use so often when they were still at Hogwarts.

She sighed "You feel like you are missing a piece of yourself Draco because you are Henry or you were. The part of you that is missing is Henry. But you don't remember anything about the curse or the past. I can feel a hallow place inside of myself to, it where Helena use to be."

"If this is all true then why can you remember, and I can't."

"I wish I had the answer to that, but I don't. Only theory's that do no one any good."

"So, help me remember," he said after a long pause.

"I think it might be better if I showed you." She said with a sad smile. "I have Harry's pensive, after everything that happened last year, I couldn't keep them bottled up in my head, I had too…" she let her train of thought go.

"I have hurt you…" he said as if realizing this for the first time.

"When I was in New York, you showed me away to lock her away from the person I am. For the first time since Helena had awoken from what I can only describe as a deep slumber, I could separate my feelings from hers, and I fell for the man that you had become."

"I broke things off with Emily not long after I went back to New York." He said Hermione tried to act as if she didn't already know this, she wasn't sure if she had managed it or not. "She wouldn't talk about what had happened to me and the healers were afraid of what the truth might do to my state of mind. Emily was ready to pick up where we had left off, but I could tell that there was this big elephant in the room. I knew that I loved her, I just felt like there was something more out there than her and I. Like I would be settling if I stayed with her. And I had this unexplainable pull towards you."

"Look it is late, and I have early meetings in the morning, let me get through this weekend and the World Cup and I promise that I will show you the memory's and you can do what you want them." She couldn't handle where this conversation was going.

"Will I see you there?" he asked as he stood from the stool.

"At the cup?"

"I bought a box for DM International."

"I'll be in the minster's box. So maybe we will run int one another."

He nodded before he turned and headed for the door. He stopped just shy of it before turning to look at her with a sad smile. "I dream of you most nights. I dream about a life I didn't think I would ever be able to have." and then he was gone.


End file.
